


waterloo

by frogsandfairies



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: (and he gets one), Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Coming Out, Crushes, F/F, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Funny, Hogwarts Seventh Year, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Marauders Friendship (Harry Potter), Mild Angst, Mutual Pining, Period-Typical Homophobia, Questioning Sexuality, Quidditch, Remus Lupin Needs a Hug, Secret Relationship, Sirius Black can't ice skate, Slice of Life, Swearing, Temporarily Unrequited Love, Truth or Dare, just your general teen angst, wolfstar
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:47:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 45,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25519759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frogsandfairies/pseuds/frogsandfairies
Summary: “You were having a nightmare,” he’d said, when Remus asked.“You don’t have to climb into my bed every time I have a nightmare, you know.”“I have since we were eleven, haven’t I?”(Remus couldn’t argue with that.)---Remus and Sirius find themselves in a predicament. Both are hopelessly pining after each other, and after James dares them to pretend to be dating, they find that time is running out and they'll have to admit their feelings sooner rather than later. Centers around Wolfstar but focuses on lots of other characters as well :)spotify playlist for this fic: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0Fcvb8nKG6br2AF57YkigT?si=gUyEr61DQ4unAWHhXLvpdw
Relationships: Hestia Jones/Marlene McKinnon, James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin & Peter Pettigrew & James Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 45
Kudos: 216
Collections: Mimichang_Wolfstar





	1. coconut shampoo

**Author's Note:**

> Ok. Hello. Here'a a fun story if you care to read it lol. Basically, I was working on a fanfic about two years ago (TWO YEARS. time continues to freak me out), but I got bored and started randomly writing this other thing. That other thing turned into a whole actual book, which I finished at the end of last year. I've basically just been editing it ever since. Now, since covid and quarantine, I've found myself reverting back to my old ways of reading fanfic (let's be honest, I never really stopped reading fanfic), re-reading books I haven't read in awhile (aka Harry Potter. Although I will say I'm not a fan of J.K. Rowling lol. Just putting that out there), things like that. I didn't really think I'd get into writing fanfic again but this idea popped into my head the other day and, like my desire to listen to Taylor Swift's new album on repeat, will not leave me alone. So I gave in. I will say that there is literally zero plot currently but there wilL be I promise. I think. Either way I imagine it'll be one of those comfort fics that you can read when you're sad and need cheering up, bc those are my favs. Fanfic is for giving people a fun escape ! and sometimes it's for making people cry, but I don't think there will be tears here. Anyway! Have fun! Also the title is based on the Abba song, bc this is the 70s and who doesn't love Abba tbh.

**Chapter One**

**_Friday morning—_ **

Sirius was tired when he went down to breakfast that morning. He’d spent the night out with Remus and the others, since it had been the full moon, and barely had any sleep. He plopped down in the empty seat next to Remus, and sighed. 

“I’m exhausted.  _ And  _ we have a Transfiguration exam today!” Sirius complained loudly. 

“We’re all tired, Pads, but somehow  _ you _ were the only one late to breakfast,” said James, taking a bite of toast. 

“Ugh.” Sirius groaned. Lily walked in then, and claimed the empty spot next to James. 

“Morning!” She said brightly.

“Sleep well?” James asked conversationally. 

“Oh, so your girlfriend can be late to breakfast? But I can’t?” Sirius asked, half-glaring in James’s direction. James shrugged.

“Yeah. I mean, she probably has a better excuse than you.”

“A better excuse than—-” But Sirius stopped short, as Remus shoved him with his shoulder in an attempt to shut him up. 

“Moony! That hurt,” he said, then muttered, “I wasn’t going to say anything anyway.” 

“Sorry,” said Remus, although he didn’t look all that sorry as he struggled to hide his smile. 

“I forgive you!” Sirius said with a smile, letting his head fall on Remus’s shoulder. The boy under him stilled a moment, as if not quite sure what to do. 

Remus felt his heart splutter as Sirius cozied up to him. They were close friends, obviously, but generally didn’t get so physically close that they could smell each other’s shampoo. Remus dreamed of that coconut shampoo smell. 

“What are you doing?” Remus forced his voice to be light and joking.

“Sleeping.”   


“Well, you can’t sleep here,” Remus shook Sirius off his shoulder, hoping no one had seen. It wasn’t that big of a deal, and he knew no one could read his mind or anything, but he still worried. Something small could be heavily blown out of proportion. Along with being a werewolf, Remus was carrying quite a few secrets. “Perhaps you ought to study for the exam.”

“Oh, please—” Sirius cut himself short as he saw James glaring at something just behind his shoulder. Sirius turned, and saw the back of Snape and his friends walking away, still sniggering to themselves. 

“Idiots.” James muttered. 

“I think they saw you two,” Peter said to Remus and Sirius. 

“Oh,  _ great. _ ” Remus muttered. 

“Who cares. It wasn’t  _ that _ weird.” Sirius said, although his heart rate had sped up. Having feelings for his best friend, Sirius found, was definitely not great. Everything he did out of friendship seemed to take on another, more romantic spin in his mind. Of course, to the outsider, they looked merely like close friends, but that was not the story that played through Sirius’s head. Sirius was quiet a moment as he ate his breakfast, but looked up in time to watch James’s face light up.

“Sirius, truth or dare?” James asked him suddenly. 

“What?” Lily said, not expecting this turn in the conversation.

“Sometimes, when they get bored they randomly start truth or dare games. They’re usually short lived, but it’s always a good opportunity for pranks. It’s pretty fun,” Peter explained, although he said the last bit as though he didn’t think it was all that fun.

“C’mon, Pete. You do have fun sometimes,” said Remus.

“ _ Sometimes  _ being the important word in that sentence.” Peter muttered. He turned to Lily. “One year, they played a truth or dare game every week. Once a week you’d suddenly get it sprung on you! It’s actually a little scary…”

“Sounds it.” Lily said, although she sounded interested.

“So, Sirius?” James prodded.

“Dare.” As a rule, Sirius tended to always choose dare. They didn’t play the game often, and it usually only lasted about a day or two, so he wanted to have the most fun he could have.

“Sirius, I dare you to—” he leaned over so they were closer and he could whisper “—pretend to date Remus until you’ve convinced the entire school.” 

“ _ What? _ ” Sirius was suddenly wishing he’d picked truth. Remus had overheard the whispered dare, and looked over at Sirius nervously. 

“Yeah, it’ll be fun. And it’ll annoy Snape, which is generally the thing I strive most for in my life.” James said. Lily rolled her eyes. 

“Er, okay. Do we just like announce it to the school or…?” Sirius asked, purposefully avoiding the brown eyes that he felt boring a hole into his head. 

“No, just let them figure it out. Hold hands, use cute pet names, stuff like that. They might just think you’re being weird but eventually they’ll figure it out.” 

Sirius took a deep breath, preparing himself for what he would consider simply a role to play. He slipped his hand into Remus’s and cozied up to him again, placing his head back onto his shoulder. Remus had thrown a deep red hand-knit sweater over his uniform that morning, his robe stuffed hastily into his bag. The yarn was scratchy under Sirius’s cheek, but it smelled like him. The scratchy-ness was worth it; Sirius thought that Remus looked adorable in that sweater. 

“Remus,  _ dear, _ ” he stopped to glare at James, “why can’t you just give me all the answers to the exam, since you’re so smart and all.”

“Hm, boyfriend Sirius acts a lot like friend Sirius,” joked Remus, his shoulders relaxing a bit under Sirius.

“Well, I hope you didn’t expect me to change just because we’re dating now,” Sirius acted hurt, looking up at Remus through his eyelashes. 

“Of course not, I love you just the way you are,” Remus said, meaning it much more than his voice carried it across. 

“You  _ love  _ me?” Sirius squealed. 

“You two are moving fast.” Lily muttered. 

“I’m so glad we all have Transfiguration together,” sighed James happily. 

—- 

Sirius and Remus walked to class hand in hand, which caused them to get a lot of odd looks. Everyone expected the Marauders to do odd things, and holding hands was probably near the bottom of that list. 

“Do you think James will make us kiss?” Remus asked, as they neared the classroom. The two boys had fallen back, behind the group. James and Lily led the way, while Peter tried to catch up to them. 

“I’m not sure,” Sirius answered honestly. “Would you mind?” 

“I don’t know. It’s just a dare, I suppose.” 

“Yeah.” 

They fell silent. Remus was silently cursing at himself in his head.  _ I don’t know _ .  _ Idiot. Of course you know _ . 

When they all sat down, and were waiting for McGonagall, Lily tapped Sirius on the shoulder, and he twisted around. 

“Write little love notes and throw them at Remus all class.” Lily said, grinning at him. Sirius rolled his eyes.

“Nice. Did you do that to James?” 

“No, idiot, he did it to me. Remember? You told him to once a few years back.” 

“Aw I forgot about that! Yeah, that was pretty funny.” Sirius said, remembering the little pile of love notes that seemed to follow Lily around every class she went to.

“Um, James?” Remus said, upon entering the classroom. He’d been outside talking to McGonagall and came back to find James in the seat next to Sirius, which was generally the way they sat. He put his hands on his hips. “Are you going to move?” 

“What?” 

“Yeah, Prongs, are you not going to let my boyfriend sit next to me?” Sirius asked, grinning at his best friend. A few heads turned at this but the boys took no notice. James sighed.

“Don’t sound so sad about sitting next to your girlfriend, James.” Lily said with a chuckle, playing along as she gestured to the empty seat next to her.

“It’ll be easier to cheat off her!” added Sirius.

“Hey!” Lily exclaimed.

“Sorry, Lils. I was just kidding,” Sirius said. 

“Yeah, yeah.” 

James moved back a row and Remus took his new place next to Sirius. Sirius caught his attention as McGonagall began class and threw a small ball of paper at his head. It hit its target, as expected, and Remus opened it to find a little heart drawn hastily on the paper. He tried hard not to grin like an idiot, but ended up just blushing. It  _ was _ pretty adorable. He looked over to see Sirius hard at work creating a whole little army of love notes. Their performance was obviously overdone for the dare’s sake, but Remus had to admit he was kind of enjoying himself. 

When the exam began, another note flew over and landed on Remus’s desk. This one Sirius had levitated over, so it was rather more controlled than the others. 

A few minutes later, another note. McGonagall must have seen the movement out of the corner of her eye, because she looked up right as another note floated lazily over to Remus. A small stack was growing on the edge of his desk. 

“Mr. Black, what on earth are you doing?” She sounded almost tired, after spending the past seven years uttering that same phrase over and over. 

“Sending Remus notes.” 

“I can see that, thank you.” 

“Then why’d you ask?” Sirius was focusing on sending another note over. 

“Mr. Black! That’s a detention. And please stop sending Mr. Lupin notes. Cheating is not allowed, as I’m sure you know.” 

“Alright. Although I’m sure you know I have no reason to cheat off of  _ Mr. Lupin _ , I’m quite proficient at this class and I think you know that.” 

“Proficient is a big word,” muttered Lily behind him.

“Thanks Lily! I’ve been picking up some of your big words, thought they might come in handy.” Some of the class chuckled quietly to themselves. 

“Everyone be quiet, or you’re all getting a detention! Mr. Lupin, will you please bring me all the notes so I can confirm that you are not helping Mr. Black cheat.” Remus froze.

“Er, I’ll just throw them away if that’s alright. They’re personal.” McGonagall looked suspiciously between the two, but seemed to give up.

“Fine. But do it now please.” 

After class, and a stern talk with McGonagall, Sirius pulled Remus through the crowd to catch up to the others. Lily and Peter had Herbology next so they split away from the group when they passed the front doors. The other three were heading to Charms. They had Potions later with the rest of their group. 

“James,” panted Sirius, finally catching up to him, “truth or dare?”

“Oh, we’re still going?” James asked, thinking that his dare to Sirius was quite enough to entertain them for a while.

“Yes.”

“Truth then. I don’t want to take away from your wonderful dare.” 

“Ugh. You’re so annoying. What is your favorite fruit?” It was a bit of a random question, but he’d thought James would pick dare. He didn’t have a dare planned, either to be quite honest, but he always came up with good ones. 

“Tomato, I reckon.” James said with a shrug. 

“God,  _ tomato _ . Very quirky of you, Prongsy.” Sirius said.

“Don’t call me  _ Prongsy _ , it’s weird.” 

“Prongsy, Prongsy, Pron…” 

“Please shut him up,” begged James to Remus. Remus covered Sirius’s mouth with his hand and he eventually petered out. 

“Prongsy is cute, James. I’m supposed to use cute nicknames, aren’t I?” Sirius said, once he was able to talk again.

“Yeah, with Remus. Call him Moon… Moon…” 

“Moony? Yeah, that’s pretty genius James. Might actually start doing that.” Sirius said dryly.

“Can you shut him up again?” James complained. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi :) hope you had fun. I cannot guarantee a speedy update, because I literally have so much to do (so much. Book editing, several essays, and other random stuff awaits me), but there will be one because I did enjoy writing this, and I have ideas for the plot (although I'm going to need more ideas for the plot, to be honest, because right now it's quite sparse). A note about the truth or dare thing. It isn't like a whole event for them or anything, it's just kinda something they do randomly for fun. It's like playing truth or dare at a sleepover, except you're doing it during school if that makes sense. It won't be a big part of the story, as James really only wanted to do that one dare. There might be a few more sprinkled in though for fun. Pls kudos this and comment ! If u plan on commenting, just know I love you <3


	2. a great sadness in your future

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello !!! Note number one is that I have no idea how the Hogwarts school schedule works. Maybe I should, but alas I do not. They do have somewhat of a schedule, I just have no clue if it's right or not. My second note is that I couldn't find a Divination teacher for the Marauders era, because I don't think you-know-who (the author of Harry Potter) ever wrote one in. So, with the help of a name generator I have created Professor Nitt. Enjoy the chapter!!

**Chapter Two**

**_Friday afternoon—_ **

Lunch passed in a blur, but a few moments stood out to Sirius. As a group of Hufflepuff’s passed their table, Sirius looped his arm around Remus’s waist and pulled him close, so they were practically snuggling again. As he lent his head back on Remus’s shoulder, he watched James smirk and glance over at Peter, who was biting his bottom lip, trying not to laugh. 

“Something funny?” Sirius had asked in the moment, but something else seemed off about it, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on it in the moment. He ignored them, and thought about how he wished he could burrow deeper and deeper into Remus’s wool sweater. 

Feeling brave, Sirius slipped his hand into Remus’s. 

“Your hand is cold,” Sirius murmured, moving a bit so he could hold Remus’s hand in both of his. 

“It _is_ December. Your hands are pretty warm though,” he commented.

“Yeah, well I do have a pretty nice fur coat. Keeps me warm enough.” Sirius grinned up at him. Remus rolled his eyes, but smiled all the same. 

“You’re ridiculous.” 

“No, I’m _Sirius_. Forgot my name, love?” 

“My point still stands.” 

Sirius saw that James and Peter were still watching them quietly chat with each other, the two exchanging suspiciously happy glances, chuckling quietly. It reminded him of earlier, and he tried to remember what was bothering him about it.

Later, however, as he, James, and Lily crossed the lawn to Care of Magical Creatures, it hit him. 

Sirius stopped dead in his tracks, then ran to catch up with his friends, cornering them just before they reached the class. 

“You!” Sirius exclaimed, rounding on James. 

“Yeah?” 

“Prongs, I can’t _believe_ you. Lils, did you know about this?” Sirius then rounded on Lily. She shook her head, confused. 

“Well, maybe if I knew what you were talking about…” 

“James. Last month, Wormtail and Moony had gone to bed, and you made me tell you. You know, about _him._ And now, you’ve gone and done this dare? What if he figured it out?” 

“Isn’t that the whole point, Pads? I mean, you weren’t going to crush on him your whole life, right?” 

“I would have, actually. What about the group? Imagine if we broke up? Not to mention my family. I mean, Merlin, what would _they_ think?” 

“You’d stay friends, I suppose. And you don’t have to worry about your family. You’re a part of my family now.” James shrugged. “Besides, it’s not like he’s a stranger. He’s your best mate. I can’t imagine you wouldn’t be able to patch things up.” Sirius opened his mouth, but James held up a hand to silence him. “Listen, Sirius, you know I didn’t do this to upset you. From this moment on, I solemnly swear to be the absolute best wingman in the world. I can even talk to him if you’d like.”

“Hold on, hold on,” Lily interrupted their moment. “Sirius, you’ve actually got a crush on Remus?” 

“Lily!” he hissed, “keep your voice down. But, uh, yes, I do.”

“Keep my voice down? You’ve been publicly cuddling him all day. I’m actually surprised the whole school isn’t buzzing about it yet.” 

“Merlin, don’t remind me.” 

“Pads? Do you accept me as your wingman?” James inquired again. Sirius regarded him a moment, then smiled a small smile. 

“Yes. Who else would I choose? Oh, by the way, does Wormtail know?”

They went to join their class. 

“Yeah, I told him last night about the dare. He thought it was pretty funny. I can’t help but agree.” 

“Oh, definitely _hilarious_. I might have a heart attack before this week is out. My heart’s been beating so fast all day, I might quite literally give myself a medical issue.” 

In class that day, Professor Kettleburn had them studying Nifflers. Each small group got a Niffler to study and take notes on. In Sirius, James, and Lily’s group it turned into mostly playing with the little creatures.

“Come on, we have to be writing stuff down,” said Lily, irritated. She watched Sirius flip a small coin towards the Niffler, who jumped at it gleefully. 

“We’re studying them, Lils. We can write things down later. Besides, you have to be nice to me today.” Sirius said, pouting at Lily from across their little circle. 

“Why?” Lily asked, picking up the Niffler, who was trying to dig through her bag. 

“Well, for starters, you should be nice to me everyday just because. But also, because of _your_ boyfriend, I’ve been having a bit of a crazy day. It’s all a lot.” 

“Oh, please, you’re loving it.” James said as he rolled his eyes. 

“That’s completely beside the point,” said Sirius, although he was trying not to smile.

* * *

After class, Lily met up with Remus in the Great Hall to go up to Divination. He and Sirius had a rather awkward hug in the middle of the throng of students, which was wildly cheered on by James, much to their embarrassment. 

“James seems far too excited about this whole dare thing,” Remus said later, as he and Lily walked up the stairs. A few portraits behind them, Sir Cadogan was running wildly in an attempt to catch up. His shouts of “m’lady!!” and “sir!!” were fading as he lost energy. 

“Yeah, he’s probably just bored.” They were quiet a moment. “Oh, you should get him back! Make him do some crazy prank.”

“Good idea. Although, it’s hardly getting him back since he’ll probably enjoy himself the whole time.” They laughed. 

“Are _you_ enjoying it?” Lily asked, looking sideways at her friend. Remus tried to avoid her gaze. He was glad they had made it to the trapdoor into class. 

“Oh, er, I don’t know. It isn’t so bad, since we’re friends and all.” 

Lily said nothing, and they entered the class through the trapdoor. Their teacher, Professor Nitt, wasn’t there yet when Lily and Remus took their seats in the back of the class. Remus always made Lily sit in the back because he thought it would deter Nitt from constantly prophesying about him. Alas, his attempts were in vain.

Nitt blew into the room, shawl wrapped tight around her shoulders, dramatic as always. Some students jumped a little at her entrance, having been lulled into a stupor by the heavily perfumed room. Immediately, her eyes turned and landed on Remus Lupin, who was pretending to be very interested in his textbook. 

“Oh, Mr. Lupin,” her voice was high-pitched as she walked over to him, “I fear there is great sadness in your future…” 

“Uh oh, is his boyfriend going to break up with him?” whispered one of the Ravenclaws. Nitt glared at her and Remus blushed. 

“Like I was saying. Something you are dreading will come soon…” 

“Goodness, something I’m dreading? There’s actually quite a list of things I’m dreading, Professor. Did your _third eye_ or whatever give you any specifics?” Remus snapped at her. He was generally kind to all his teachers, but Nitt always got under his skin. Perhaps if she predicted someone else's death or “great sadness” for once he might be a little nicer to her. 

“That is all I know,” Nitt was getting a little irritated with him as well. “I have warned you now. Class, please put away your books. Today we will be looking into the crystal ball…” her voice tapered off as she walked to the cupboard of crystal ball’s, passing one out to each table. 

This was always a fun lesson, because it meant Lily and Remus could do absolutely nothing the whole time. Of course, being the good students they are, they did at least try to play along. 

“I think I see...erm, a great sadness in your future. Perhaps… something you’ve been dreading?” Lily told Remus, grinning a little as she looked into the empty crystal ball. He rolled his eyes.

“Wonderful. In your future, I see you going to bed, and then waking up in the morning.” 

“Oh, well that’s good,” said Lily. They laughed, gaining them a glare from Nitt, before writing down their predictions. 

“Anything else? Perhaps the thing I’m dreading?” Remus asked. Lily contemplated a moment, although it didn’t seem like she was looking for answers in the crystal ball. 

“Yes. I see that Sirius is going to find out you have a crush on him.” It was a complete shot in the dark, but Lily hoped she wasn’t completely wrong. Remus froze, the grin on his face sliding off.

“Oh. That’s...interesting,” he said, staring at the table.

“Is it wrong?” 

“No, no you’re right. You won’t tell anyone, right? _I_ haven’t told anyone, so Merlin knows how you figured it out.” 

“No, I won’t tell anyone. Also I know because I looked in the crystal ball, obviously.” Remus gave her a weak smile. “I actually just guessed. Are you going to tell him?” 

“I can’t risk our friendship like that. It would be silly.” 

“Remus.” 

“Yes?” his voice sounded small.

“You two are best friends. Plus, I bet he feels the same.” Lily said. She didn’t want to entirely give up Sirius’s secret, but she thought it might help them a bit if she hinted at his feelings. 

“Really?” 

“Really.” 

The thought of confronting Sirius made Remus want to throw up, so he thought he’d leave it for a bit until he worked up enough confidence. As he and Lily left class that day, he felt hopeful that perhaps his crush would turn into something more serious after all.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again. I hope you liked the chapter :). I do have ideas about the prank Remus is going to have James do, and it'll probably be introduced in the next chapter, although might not be actually done in that chapter. Have a good morning/afternoon/night


	3. the secret chocolate stash

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> good evening! (I say, as it nears 11 pm lol). So my pre-notes for this chapter are that I've kinda changed some characters ages and such. First, I've mentioned Bertha Jorkins who, according to Sirius in Goblet of Fire (I'm p sure), was a few years older than them. Since they're in their last year, she would have been out by then, so we're just going to pretend she's the same age. This is probably the only time she'll be mentioned so it's alright. SecondlY, I've decided to make Frank and Alice Longbottom the same age as the Marauders, because I think it would be cool and no one really knows for sure how old they were anyway. Also I've given Alice the last name of Brown, bc I don't think she has a maiden name in canon. She and Marlene will probably come up again since they're Lily's friends and Frank will probably be mentioned too. My other note is that for some reason I went crazy with the ellipsis in this chapter. There's a lot of them. That is all have fun :)

**chapter three**

**_friday afternoon—_ **

“I hate potions,” grumbled Peter.

“You just have to follow the instructions,” said Lily with a shrug. Peter glared at her.

“Easy for you to say! Y’know, sometimes I mix up my lefts and rights and then I’ll have to mix the potion one way but do it the other and then it’s  _ all _ messed up…”

“What?” asked James. Peter looked up at him.

“That doesn’t happen to you?” 

“Er, no.” 

After Divination, Lily and Remus had rejoined the others to head down to potions. Thankfully, it was their last class of the day and the students seemed to buzz with an energy that only an upcoming weekend could bring. Though it was the next weekend, talk was already beginning to fly around the school about the last Hogsmeade visit before winter break, and one could almost taste the excitement in the air. 

“I cannot  _ wait  _ to go upstairs and sleep after this,” said Sirius, ignoring his friends and thinking happily of the nap he was going to have during their break before dinner.

“Sleep? I thought you were going to help me study for our Charms exam. You know, since you’re my  _ boyfriend  _ and all.” Remus tried to say boyfriend loud enough that the people around him could hear. It worked somewhat, as students began to whisper as they passed them by.

“Oh, no,” groaned Sirius. “You don’t even need help studying, you’re just being annoying. Besides, the exam is like, a whole  _ week  _ away. That’s forever.”

“Annoying? That’s sweet. But, if that’s how you feel…” Remus stuck his nose in the air and walked off, leaving the rest of the group behind him. Lily thought she saw him trying to hide his smile as he walked off. Sirius looked at his friends, shocked. 

“Go on, go after him,” said Lily, although she was having a hard time not bursting out into laughter. She thought Remus was doing an excellent job with the dare James gave them, and it seemed the other students did as well, as rumors really began to fly as the minutes ticked on. 

Sirius, looking uncertain as if he hadn’t any idea what was going on, ran after Remus down the stone passageway, sometimes shouting his name for the dramatic effect. 

“Wormy, we’re geniuses,” said James, high-fiving Peter. “And, we’re killing two birds with uh, with one stone, or whatever the muggles say. We’re helping Sirius get a date  _ and  _ getting an awesome prank at the same time.” 

“Sirius isn’t the only one with a crush.” Lily said, but immediately regretted it after the shocked look James gave her. 

“Wait, Lily…you have a crush on Remus too?” Peter said, eyebrows knit in confusion. 

“No idiot, she's saying  _ Remus  _ likes Sirius,” James bumped shoulders with Peter good-naturedly. Peter stumbled and almost fell but managed to grab the wall in time. 

“Oh… _ oh.”  _ It hit him. “How did you find out?” 

“He told me,” said Lily, “but please please don’t say anything. I didn’t even mean to tell you. It just kinda…slipped out.” 

“We won’t say anything. Although this certainly changes things. I mean, if they don’t work it out between themselves, we might have to step in…” mused James. 

When everyone made it to potions, they found that Remus and Sirius had made up, although it seemed Sirius had to be bribed with half a bar of chocolate from Remus’s secret chocolate stash. 

“The secret chocolate stash?” Peter looked wide-eyed between them. “He must really like you, Padfoot.”

“Yeah, well, I tried to get a whole bar but half was the most he could go.” Sirius shrugged.

“The house elves love giving me chocolate whenever I ask, so I figured I could spare half a bar.” Remus said. 

“So romantic.” James put a hand over his heart and pretended to swoon. All four descended into laughter, but were silenced by a glare from Professor Slughorn, who had just walked in. 

Slughorn brightened considerably at the sight of Lily. She was sitting with her friend, Alice Brown, at one of the front tables. Lily and Snape were his favorite students of the seventh year potions class, and the Marauders were definitely his least favorite. Remus was tolerated, because he was pretty good at potion making, but the others just got on Slughorn’s nerves. 

He introduced the potion they were making that day, wrote out the ingredients onto the board with his wand, and began to walk around the class as the students began to prepare their potions. 

“Frank was telling me that he overheard Bertha Jorkins telling her friends that Sirius and Remus are dating. He said he didn’t believe her, he does share a room with them after all, and probably knows them better than Bertha, but I figured I’d ask you.” Alice said, beginning to carefully cut her dandelion root. Alice was dating Frank Longbottom, who did indeed share a room with the Marauders. 

“Well, Bertha is known to spread rumors…but, uh, she wasn’t wrong this time.” Lily said, anxiously awaiting Alice’s response. It didn’t feel quite right to be sharing such private information, let alone something that was a lie, but she supposed part of the prank was convincing the entire school. 

“Really? That’s interesting. I’m not surprised everyone isn’t talking about it yet,” Alice said. 

“That’s what I said! I say it’ll be spreading like wildfire by dinner.” 

“Oh, definitely. Y’know, sometimes I wonder how rumors  _ do  _ spread so fast here. I bet it’s the portraits…” Alice eyed an old man sleeping in his portrait suspiciously. Lily laughed at her and Alice joined in.

“Aw, guys, what is it?” asked Marlene McKinnon, feeling left out. Then she grinned, “are you talking about how Lily is dating James now?” 

This was somewhat old news, but Lily and Alice nodded. Marlene continued. 

“I know  _ I  _ can’t believe it. I mean, this is the same Lily who said that she never ever wanted to see his face again.” 

“Well, to be fair, I was twelve when I said that…” Lily said, blushing. Alice laughed.

“And thirteen, and fourteen, and—” 

“Okay, okay I get it,” Lily cut her off, joining in with the giggling. 

Back a few tables, Sirius was glaring at his potion. 

“Just because you glare at it, doesn’t mean anything’s going to happen,” Remus told him, watching as Sirius’s potion bubbled an angry red color. “You need to add more bat spleen, I think. Prongs?” 

James peered into his friend’s cauldron and nodded. 

“Yeah, some bat spleen should do it.” 

“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” said Peter, rolling his eyes. 

“Hey! I watched Padfoot cut up that bat spleen and it wasn’t nearly enough. The board says two spleens, and believe it or not, I can read.” James said indignantly. 

“Really? I would have never guessed.” Sirius said, cutting up another bat spleen. He threw it in, and his potion turned neon green, not the pale blue that was the end goal. “Moony! You said that would work!” he groaned. A few heads turned in their direction. 

“Sorry! Erm,” Remus flipped through his potions book, running a hand through his hair. Then, he grabbed some of his extra dandelion root and threw it into Sirius’s cauldron. It faded into a dark blue. “You’ll need to stir it counter-clockwise uh, five times, then it should be fine.” 

“Aw, thanks Moony.” Sirius threw his arms around Remus’s waist. 

“Oh. You’re welcome.” Remus almost whispered. He didn’t think he’d ever get used to Sirius being touchy like that. 

“See you two! Enjoy your studying date.” Lily waved as she, James, Peter, Alice, Frank, and Marlene left them at the mouth of the dungeons. They were going back to the common room, and Sirius watched them leave longingly. 

“I’m surprised you even wanted to study today, you know, considering your furry little problem and all.” Sirius said as he and Remus began walking towards the library. 

“Oh, I didn’t really. I just wanted to see if you’d actually agree to it.” Remus grinned at him and Sirius gasped dramatically. 

“No, really?! I’m shocked, Moony. Do I still get the chocolate?” 

“Yeah, you can have the chocolate. I have to grab a book from the library so the chocolate can be your payment.” 

“Awesome.” Sirius didn’t say it, but he would have done anything Remus asked him without anything in return. However, the chocolate  _ was  _ being offered to him so…he supposed it didn’t hurt to accept it. 

They both drifted off into their own thoughts, but were brought quickly back when their hands brushed against each other. Remus went to pull his hand away, but Sirius wordlessly looped his pinky finger around Remus’s. Remus looked down at their connected pinky’s, but said nothing. 

They walked like that until they reached the library, but had to disconnect so Remus could search for the book he needed. Sirius followed him around diligently, rather like an overprotective puppy, until they were back in the halls, library book tucked away in Remus’s bag. They started holding hands at some point.

The chatted idly as they walked, passing several secret passageways on their way but neither wanting to shorten their time alone together. 

“I thought of a good prank for James to do. I’d say it’s getting him back for the dare he gave us, but I’m sure he’ll have fun. Although, to be fair, it might be rather difficult…” 

“Tell me, tell me!” Sirius said excitedly. 

“Well, I thought he could get Moaning Myrtle down from her bathroom and into the Great Hall. I haven’t thought of something for her to do yet, but it’ll come to me.” Remus explained, grinning at the thought of it. James was one of the more-disliked Marauders in Myrtle’s book, and Remus was sure he’d bring that up when he told him about the prank later. 

“That’s genius. Maybe Myrtle could follow Snape around all dinner? Or one of the teachers?” Sirius proposed, thinking hard. 

They discussed possibilities for the prank until they arrived at the Fat Lady, nearly doubled over in laughter. The Fat Lady was trying to talk to one of her friends, and looked down, irritated with the boys, as she so often was.

“Password?” she sounded almost bored.

“Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans,” gasped Sirius, recovering slightly from his laughing fit. The portrait swung open. Every Flavor Beans happened to be the current password for Dumbledore’s office as well. The Marauders thought that he’d made both passwords the same, and his least favorite candy, in an attempt to make it harder for them to figure out his office password. It hadn’t worked, and actually made it easier for them to figure it out. 

The common room was much warmer and cozier than the cold halls outside. The December chill had not made its way into the common room yet, and a fire burned happily in the large fireplace. James and Peter were sitting on the couch, and Lily was sitting on the ground by the fire, so she could do her homework on the coffee table and still be warm. 

Remus collapsed into an armchair by their friends, and Sirius sat down in the one opposite. There were a handful of other people scattered around the room, but most were busy doing work or talking about dinner or the weekend. 

“That was fast. Guess it didn’t take you two long to figure out Moony knows much more about Charms than you do, Pads.” James said, grinning up at his best friend. James was trying to do some Transfiguration reading McGonagall had set them, but found teasing his friends was much more fun. 

“Ha ha. Actually, turns out he just needed to check a book out of the library, and wanted to pull me along. Speaking of, do I get my chocolate soon?” Sirius asked, looking across at Remus. He was flipping through the library book. It was some extra reading for Charms that he thought might come in handy for their exams. 

“Oh, yeah. After dinner. We can leave early so no one’s up in the dorms.” Remus sat sideways in the chair, with his knees pulled up to his chest, so he could comfortably rest his head on the back of the armchair. 

“Oooo—” Peter began, but was cut off by Sirius, who threw a book at him. “Ow.” 

“Serves you right, Wormtail. He just doesn’t want anyone to know where his chocolate is hidden. Right, Moony?” Sirius glared at Peter, then went to look at Remus, but saw he was asleep. Remus looked adorable, and Sirius was momentarily speechless. He looked incredibly peaceful; his face relaxed, the red sweater he was still wearing, the book still open on his lap. 

“Should we wake him up?” Lily asked, turning around to look at the sleeping Remus.

“No, he should sleep. I’m not surprised, honestly, I thought it was crazy he wanted to spend this break studying for his exam,” Sirius shook his head fondly. 

“Yeah, it didn’t seem very in-character for him right now because…well, you know.” James said. Lily pouted.

“I don’t know! I feel left out,” she said. 

“Join the club.” Peter muttered. Sirius picked up the book as if he were going to throw it at Peter again.

“Don’t say that Wormtail. You know what we’re talking about which actually makes you  _ not  _ left out.” 

“Yeah, yeah. Sorry. Just don’t throw the book at me, okay?” 

“Deal.” Sirius grinned, and put the book back down. “And Lils, unfortunately you cannot know what we’re talking about. But I promise it’s really really boring.” 

“Yeah, you wouldn’t want to know. It’s uh,  _ super  _ boring.” Peter added enthusiastically. Lily rolled her eyes.

“You guys are the worst liars. James?” James tried not to make direct eye contact with her, and bit nervously at the skin on his lip. 

“It isn’t my secret so, uh, I can’t really say.”

“Hm, I mean I guess I don’t need to know, since it is so secret and all,” Lily said. After barely a minute’s pause, she looked back up at James. “James, did McGonagall tell you we have Head Boy and Girl duties tonight?” 

“What? She did  _ not  _ tell me. That’s so annoying,” he groaned, letting his head fall back on the cushions.” I think I need a nap too.” 

“I second that.” Sirius yawned. 

“Third,” said Peter. Lily looked between them, then shook her head.

“You guys are so weird.” 

“Aw, thank you Lily.” Sirius said. 

“I don’t think that was a compliment, Pads.” James said, still leaning into the pillows behind him, eyes closed. 

“What? Lily I thought you said you were going to be nice to me today…I’m heartbroken.” Sirius pretended to be hurt, even managing a few fake tears. 

“You are the most dramatic person I have ever met,” she responded, laughing at his performance. 

“Was  _ that _ a compliment?” Sirius asked.

“No.” 

“Lily!”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! thanks for reading ily <3


	4. merlin, his life was crazy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> good evening!! I'm having a lot of fun writing this fic. I'm not sure if it's 100% accurate, and I've continued to kinda make stuff up in this chapter lol but it's alright, we're all just having a good time (except for Remus and Sirius, tbh). Also as someone (a girl) who has in fact had a massive crush on her best friend (also a girl) a few years ago I definitely feel like I can hone in on those gay, best friend crush feelings to write all this lmao. Enjoy the chapter !

**chapter four**

**_friday evening—_ **

“Wormtail, if you speak one more time, I will get out the book again. And I’ll aim better this time,” Sirius nearly growled, an arm thrown over his eyes. Sirius thought he could also take a quick nap before dinner, but found that it was a lot harder than Remus made it out to seem. 

“This is the common room, Sirius. If you want to sleep, just go upstairs.” Lily said, finishing up her homework and putting it away. She checked her watch. “We should probably get going.” 

“Urgh. I can’t believe it.” Sirius rolled off his chair and landed with a soft  _ thump  _ on the carpet.

“Hey, at least you don’t have Head Boy duties tonight,” said James. He waited until Lily went upstairs to drop her bag off before saying, “I mean, doesn’t McGonagall know about his furry little problem? Wouldn’t she get it?” 

“No, because  _ we’re  _ not supposed to be involved in  _ it,  _ Prongs, in case you’ve forgotten.” Sirius was sitting up on the carpet now, but made no move to get up for dinner, even if he  _ was  _ thinking of all the food.

“Oh. Yeah. But still.”

“That wouldn’t even make sense, James.” Sirius said. “It’s Moony who has the issue, and therefore if we didn’t know, it would barely affect us at all.” 

“But, like, friends feed off each other's vibes and stuff. So uh, if Moony was feeling tired and sad and a bit of a mess, that would rub off on me and I too would feel tired, sad, and a bit of a mess, which would mean that McGonagall should understand and I shouldn’t go out and patrol tonight,” explained James. Sirius just looked at him.

“Right. Can we go eat now?” Sirius asked, standing up and fixing his hair, which had gotten messed up after he rolled off his chair. 

“Fine.” James grumbled.

“Someone needs to wake up Moony,” Peter said. “I vote Padfoot.” 

“Same.” James said. Lily came back downstairs chatting with Alice, Marlene, Mary MacDonald, and Hestia Jones. When they passed the boys, Lily looked over. 

“Meet you there?” she said, before leaving the portrait hole with her friends, laughing as they went. 

“No! Wait for us!” James said, running after them with Peter on his tail. Then, it was only Sirius. 

“How nice,” he grumbled, walking over to stand in front of the sleeping Remus. He reached out a hand, and gently shook his shoulder. Being so close to Remus like this made Sirius feel like his heart was beating out of his chest, and he had an overwhelming urge to kiss him. Obviously, it would have been a little weird because they weren’t dating and Remus was sleeping, but  _ had  _ he been awake, and if Sirius had the courage, maybe.

Remus stirred, and his eyes fluttered open. He looked at Sirius, confused a moment, before remembering where he was. 

“Is it dinner already?” he asked, quietly. 

“Yeah. Everyone’s gone down. They asked me to wake you up.” 

Remus looked up at Sirius quietly for a moment. Sirius stared back, hungrily almost, like he might forget what Remus looked like if he looked away. He wouldn’t, of course, having already memorized every freckle and scar that he could see. 

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Remus whispered. 

“Like what?” 

“Like you want to kiss me.” 

Sirius thought his heart stopped. 

“I am your boyfriend, aren’t I?” Sirius said, taking a few steps back so they weren’t so close. Remus was quiet as he put his unread library book back in his bag and stood up. 

“That’s true.” Remus was a little disoriented from his nap, but he definitely thought Sirius was looking at him in a way he never had before. Either way, his heart was pounding and the shock of being woken up by the boy he had a crush on and was currently fake dating (who also happened to be his best mate) inches away from his face was still setting in. 

Merlin, his life was crazy. 

“Ready to go? I’m starving.” Sirius looked nervous, but held out a hand anyway. Apprehensively, Remus took his outstretched hand. 

“Alright. I can’t believe they just left us here,” he said, as they walked to the portrait hole.

“I know! We might have to make James’s prank harder just for that.” 

“Definitely. Also, did anyone think it was odd? That I fell asleep. I mean, obviously you guys wouldn’t but there were quite a few people in there. I didn’t even mean to, really, the exhaustion just hit me so I closed my eyes for a minute and must have drifted off…” 

“Oh, don’t feel bad. You needed to sleep. And Lily was a little curious, but we told her it wasn’t our secret to tell. She didn’t mind, I don’t think.” 

“Should I tell her?” Remus asked, watching his and Sirius’s intertwined hands. 

“Are you sure you want to? I mean, there isn’t really a need to.” 

“But what about after this year? We’ll be out of school, living our own lives. James and Lily will probably get married. I’ll be the werewolf who no one wants to deal with and everyone is bound to find out. I might as well tell her now.” 

“I’ll want to deal with you,” Sirius’s voice was quiet as he looked over at Remus. He had his eyes averted and seemed to be looking anywhere but Sirius. “You’ll always have the Marauders to come back to, if you need us.” 

Remus looked up at him. 

“Thank you, Sirius, really. I’d hug you, but those first years over there are watching us and it’s a little weird.” 

Sirius ran a hand through his black hair and let go of Remus’s hand, throwing his arm around his shoulders instead. 

“I think they’re jealous of us,” Sirius said, grinning down at him. Remus blushed, and smiled back. “I mean, we  _ are  _ the most handsome boys at school.”

“Actually I think you’re supposed to say that  _ I’m _ the most handsome and then I say ‘oh, no,  _ you’re _ the most handsome!’” Remus said with a laugh. He was glad the mood had lightened, he didn’t like to think too much about the future. 

“Hm. Well then I suppose that while I am definitely one of the most handsome boys at this school, no one can look as effortlessly adorable as you manage to do every day, which therefore puts you at the top of the list.” 

“Adorable? Please, that’s the last word I’d use to describe me and...and all my scars,” Remus looked down and caught sight of a new, slightly pink scar on his arm that he remembered Madame Pomfrey mending that morning.

“What? You’re actually the most adorable person I’ve ever met.” Sirius dragged his thumb across a scar that spanned from Remus’s thumb and wrapped its way down his wrist. That one was a few months old, and Sirius remembered it because it had been quite deep, and Madam Pomfrey kept Remus in for almost two days. The Marauders had switched out at Remus’s bedside, but Sirius tried his best to be there as often as he could. He’d stayed there overnight, sleeping in a chair (although, to be fair, he did charm it to be squishy), and then Mary MacDonald had shown up the next morning. With  _ flowers.  _ “Does Mary still like you?” Sirius asked, seemingly out of the blue. 

“Huh? Oh, I’m not sure. I wasn’t aware she liked me in the first place.” 

“Please, are you forgetting that time she brought you flowers? Or that time she asked you to Hogsmeade which  _ you  _ thought was a friend thing, and then were surprised when she tried to kiss you at lunch? And then that time—” Remus cut him off by shoving him with his shoulder.

“Sounds like  _ you  _ haven’t forgotten. Are you jealous, Pads?” Remus smirked. 

“Me, jealous? Definitely not.” He paused. “Hey, wait! You haven’t told me that I’m the most handsome! Aren’t you supposed to compliment me?” Sirius exclaimed. Remus shrugged.

“I’m not sure I can compete with you calling me ‘effortlessly adorable’, honestly.”

They were both glad to have made it to the Great Hall, which meant they were saved from going any deeper into the conversation, into uncharted territory that neither were ready to explore. 

“I told Wormtail he should turn into a rat and run across the Slytherin table, but he said he wouldn’t.” James told them after they’d sat down. Remus took a scoop of potatoes from a plate in front of him that had been empty moments previous. 

“Wormy, that’s so boring. Don’t you love hearing them scream in terror like little girls?” Sirius asked. Peter looked at him oddly. 

“You saying you like to ‘hear them scream in terror’ is a little weird, you know that right?” Lily asked.

“Well I didn’t mean it like  _ that _ . I just like playing jokes on them.” 

“I figured. And I like to prank them as well, obviously, but I do value my life a bit more.” Peter said, shuddering at the thought of being caught in his (illegal) animagus form at the Slytherin table. 

“What if I  _ dared  _ you to do it?” James asked. Peter grinned, a little evilly. 

“Considering our truth and dare has no rules, I can just not do it. Also I could just pick truth.” James eyed him for a moment, then seemed to give up with a sigh of defeat. 

“Do you want a dare Prongs?” Remus asked. He and Sirius exchanged a smile.

“Why not. You’ve got to ask it right though, if this is a truth or dare.” 

“Fine, fine. Prongs,  _ dare or dare _ ?” James gasped, then pretended to swoon. 

“A man after my own heart. I’m not sure why  _ I’m  _ not dating you.” 

A simultaneous “HEY!” from both Sirius and Lily sent a few glances their way, and Remus tried feebly to quiet them down. 

“Guys, shut up,” Remus began, trying to stifle his own laughs. “James. Your dare, which is the choice I’m assuming you picked since you had no other option, is to go see Moaning Myrtle sometime this week and convince her to spend every meal on a day of your choosing following Snivellus around and loudly flirting with him. She can also burst into tears randomly just to annoy him.” 

“Wow. Moony that was great. Is this what happens when you’re under Padfoot’s influence?” James asked, his mind still thinking over the dare. 

“Hey! I can come up with good pranks too,” Remus grumbled. 

“Wait, Remus, Myrtle hates me!” This realization seemed to hit him after the awe had worn off. Remus grinned. 

“I thought you’d say that.”

“And—?” James began. Remus shrugged. 

“ _ And  _ you can figure it out. Besides, I think she hates Sirius the most.” Sirius nearly choked on his food.

“I resent that!” he managed, after quickly swallowing the mouthful of food he’d just put in his mouth. 

“Well, it’s true. Just because you’re easily the most handsome at this school, doesn’t mean you aren’t also incredibly annoying,” Remus explained. 

“So you  _ do  _ think I’m the most handsome!” Sirius seemed overjoyed at this, and completely ignored the fact that he’d also been called “incredibly annoying”. 

“Oh, um, yes I’d say so.” Remus was blushing, and he stumbled over his response. His brain seemed to have turned into a jumbled mush, and therefore good answers to Sirius’s question eluded him. 

“Aw, I knew it. Of course,  _ you’re  _ still the most handsome in my mind—” 

“Guys, can you stop flirting?” James interrupted them, flicking a piece of mashed potato at Sirius, “I can’t concentrate on my food over the sound of all this ridiculous sexual tension.” 

“We do  _ not  _ have ‘ridiculous sexual tension’, James!” Sirius protested. 

Remus had had a burst of energy from his nap, but by the time dessert rolled around, he was beginning to feel tired again. Halfway through his treacle tart, he found himself dozing off on Sirius’s shoulder, something he most certainly did not mean to happen. 

“You alright mate?” James asked, after he’d shaken himself awake for the second time. 

“Just a little tired,” Remus replied, trying to downplay the tiredness and the pain that came along with having transformed into a werewolf less than 24 hours previous. 

“Y’know, I was a little surprised to see you at breakfast this morning…” Peter began, glancing at the disheveled Remus. “Usually Pomfrey keeps you longer.” 

James, who had been with Remus when he woke up in the hospital wing that morning, chuckled darkly. 

“She was  _ livid _ that he wanted to leave.” 

Remus managed a small grin.

“Yeah, she thought that ‘wanting to take my transfiguration exam’ wasn’t a good excuse. I honestly wouldn’t have been surprised if she had breathed fire. I told her I felt fine though, so there wasn’t anything to keep me around for.” 

“Except for the fact that you vomited in the corridor almost as soon as we walked out of there,” James pointed out. 

“Well, yeah, but I didn’t vomit again after that, did I?”

“How did I miss all of this!?” exclaimed Sirius, who had been listening quietly. 

“You were sleeping, Padfoot.” Peter said, rolling his eyes. “Maybe you should have been there, you know, for your boyfriend.” 

“Oh, fuck off, Wormy,” Sirius grumbled. “I’m a  _ great  _ boyfriend, aren’t I Moony?”

Remus looked at Peter, then to Sirius. Exhausted, he managed a “sure, Sirius.” 

“Hah! There you go.” 

“I think I’m going to go to sleep early, if that’s alright. I’d like to be awake for the game tomorrow.” Remus gave James a small smile, which he returned enthusiastically. The following morning, the final Quidditch match of the season (Gryffindor v. Slytherin) was going to take place. James had been talking of little else for the past few days, and spent the majority of his time zooming around the pitch, generally with the Marauders as an audience. 

“Thanks, Moons! I hope you feel better in the morning,” said James. The others said goodnight, and Remus left, thinking happily of his bed and finally being able to sleep. He made a mental note to leave Sirius his chocolate on his bed, before he forgot. 

As soon as he left, Lily scooted closer to James and the others, and leaned forward, as if she were listening intently to some story or lecture. 

“Why is Remus feeling so terrible? Something must be going on, I mean, he wasn’t even wearing his uniform today.” Lily said. The remaining Marauders exchanged worried glances. 

“Have you been listening to our conversation?” Sirius asked her. 

“No, but you can’t just have private conversations right next to people without them hearing you.” There was a silence. “But, anyway, that’s beside the point. Is Remus a werewolf?” 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will finally be the end of Friday. I just felt this one was getting too long. I don't think every day will be so many chapters but we'll see ! I hope you had fun! plz comment & kudos ily!


	5. stay?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little short chapter to finish off Friday! It's essentially five pages of them flirting and cuddling. So enjoy that lol.

**chapter five**

**_friday night—_ **

“I don’t understand how you figured it out,” Peter mumbled, after Lily’s prediction that Remus was a werewolf turned out to be true. 

“It’s obvious, isn’t it? His hospital visits and general illness always coincide with the full moon. Not to mention I saw you all last month. I’d been looking out the window when on patrol and saw you three turn into...well, turn into animals I suppose. Don’t tell Remus I know if you think he’ll get upset. I didn’t want to say anything to his face and certainly not today of all days…” Lily explained, looking a little anxiously at the Marauders in front of her. They all looked a little angry and guarded, and Lily almost smiled thinking about how deeply all three of them cared for Remus. 

“I’ll tell him,” Sirius said. “It’s better he knows that you know, and also that you aren’t going to judge him for it. Which you won’t, right Evans? Because if you _do_ judge him I will quite literally hex you into the next century.”

“Woah, Sirius, of course I support him. Put your wand down.” She tried to swat Sirius’s wand away from her face. “Are you guys really animagi?” She asked then, curiosity seeping into her voice. James nodded.

“Yep! Illegal though. So don’t tell anyone. Wanna see me transform into a stag?” James asked, grinning down at his girlfriend. Sirius rolled his eyes. 

“You are such a show-off.” 

“What! Says the boy who transforms into a dog whenever he gets the chance.” 

“Well, I mostly transform so I can scare the shit out of Professor Nitt by making her think I’m the Grimm.” James smiled at this, and their bickering stopped. 

“That  _ is  _ a classic.”

“Sometimes you guys freak me out.” Lily said, shaking her head. 

“So the terrorizing teachers freaks you out but not the illegal animagi bit?” There was a pause, where James thought about what he’d just said. “Y’know, honestly none of that sounds all that great.”

Up in the dorm, Remus was still wide awake. He’d pulled on his pyjamas and climbed into bed, the lamp on his bedside table still on. He stared out of the window for a while, watching the clouds float lazily across the lake and the mountains beyond. 

Of course, initially he had been excited to sleep, but then he’d remembered the dreams. He knew he was in for a night of nightmare after nightmare. It would be a sleepless night, he was sure, and he was dreading it. He supposed he could go get a sleeping draught from Madam Pomfrey, but he thought if he showed his face in the hospital wing so soon after his escape she might kidnap him and chain him to a hospital bed. So, instead, Remus grabbed his new Charms book from his bedside table, and began to read, hoping it might make him sleepy. 

He’d only gone a few pages when there was a quiet rustle and a huge black dog jumped on the bed.

“Hello, Sirius.” Remus said, looking up casually over the top of his book. The dog whimpered, as if disappointed. “Are you upset that you didn’t scare me? Because first of all, that isn’t very nice considering I just transformed into a werewolf, and second of all,  _ because  _ I just transformed into a werewolf, I happen to have heightened senses. I heard you outside the door quite a few minutes ago.” 

Sirius the dog sighed, then changed tactics. He chased his tail a bit, jumped around on the bed, then, after finding Remus was too absorbed in his book to notice him, he tried pulling it out of his hands with his teeth.

“Sirius! That’s a library book! How am I going to explain the slobber to Madam Pince?” Remus successfully pulled the book out of his mouth, and placed it gingerly back on his bedside table. Sirius transformed back into a human, and found himself sitting on Remus’s legs. 

“Tell her you had a bit of a furry little problem.”

“You’re insufferable,” Remus said, far too lovingly for his choice of words. 

“Insufferable? Did you eat a dictionary before I came up here?” Sirius teased him, adjusting himself so he was laying down by Remus’s legs, with his head in his lap. 

“Ha ha. Insufferable isn’t actually that hard of a word. Have you ever  _ read  _ a dictionary?” Remus asked, looking down at Sirius. He felt quite nervous, practically cuddling Sirius in their empty dormitory. Sirius pretended to look hurt. 

“Oof. Moony, you know how I feel about that topic. I thought we already discussed that my parents didn’t love me enough to teach me how to read.” 

“Ah, right. How could I forget. It’s a wonder you’re passing your classes, to be honest.” 

“Yeah, well, Wormtail usually reads everything to me. And if he can’t, I just get by with my good looks and charm.” 

“Of course. Who needs to be literate when you have good looks and charm?” Remus teased him. Without really thinking he let his left hand travel to the ends of Sirius’s black curly hair, which was splayed out beneath him, and twisted a curl around his finger. Remus knew his sheets would smell like coconut shampoo later. 

“Are you playing with my hair?” Sirius whispered. 

“No. perhaps it’s a ghost.” 

“A ghost? Moony I think you’ve been at Hogwarts long enough to know how ghosts work. Also, I wasn’t aware there were any ghosts who looked  _ just  _ like my best friend Remus.” Sirius reached up and grabbed Remus’s hand, pulling it away from his hair. “And he has the same gorgeous hands as him too. The resemblance is truly uncanny.” 

“Uncanny? Get that from the dictionary?”

“Well, ghost-who-looks-like-Remus, I happen to have a friend, Moony, who sometimes uses big words that I pick up on.” Sirius tilted his chin up a bit so he could see Remus, and smiled. Remus smiled back, but felt himself blush as Sirius continued to trace the freckles and scars on his hand. 

“You are so weird, Sirius Black.” They were quiet a moment, and Remus found he was enjoying the silence so much more than he had been before Sirius had arrived. “Where are the others?” 

“Downstairs. There’s a pre-game party going on. I imagine there’ll be a post-game party as well, if they win, of course.” 

“Oh. That’s nice.” Remus looked back out of the window again. It was so intensely peaceful outside, he thought. The sounds of laughter from downstairs could be heard, quiet and muffled as if they were listening through water. 

“Lily knows, by the way. About the…uh, werewolf thing. She seemed to have figured it out on her own. She’s totally fine with it.” Sirius said, breaking the peace. 

“Hm. Well I suppose she was going to find out at some point. She’s too smart not to. Was she disgusted?” He asked the last question quietly, and felt Sirius’s hands still. 

“No. She was worried you’d be upset that she knew, actually. She just wants to be there for you, like we do, I promise.” Quiet. “Are you tired?”

“I should be. Perhaps I’ll turn the light off now, and try to fall asleep.” However, the thought didn’t appeal to him at all anymore. He was entirely in control, when he was awake.

“Would you like me to stay?” Sirius proposed, voice quiet. He was nervous Remus might entirely reject him then and there. 

“Stay?”

“Well, it’s just I know you get terrible nightmares, so I thought I could just stay here, be a comfort. If you want, of course.” 

Remus regarded him a moment. Adorable, hair messy, in  _ his _ bed. Asking to  _ stay  _ in his bed. 

“Okay.” Sirius’s face split into a grin, and jumped up to put his pajamas on. He came back a few minutes later, and settled into the space Remus had made on the bed. “This bed was not made for two people,” grumbled Remus, trying to find a comfortable position that didn’t end up with him fully cuddling Sirius. Of course, he’d have loved to cuddle him, but he was sure Sirius would think that was weird. Even if he  _ was  _ the one who suggested this in the first place. 

Eventually, they ended up laying on their sides, face to face. 

“Is this strange?” Sirius asked. Remus chuckled.

“I don’t think so. Prongs and Wormtail will make fun of us tomorrow, though.” 

“It’s worth it. Do I get a goodnight kiss?” Remus knew he was joking, but he said it with such a straight face he could hardly formulate a response.

“No. I should go to sleep.” Sirius pouted, but was smiling moments later. 

“Alright then. Goodnight, Moony.” Sirius reached out, and grabbed one of Remus’s hands. Remus felt his heart beat faster, and he opened his eyes. 

“I can’t sleep if you’re holding my hand.” Remus murmured. Sirius stuck his tongue out at him. 

“You are so boring, Lupin.”

“Go to bed, Black.” Remus rolled over, and closed his eyes, letting exhaustion take him. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> friday is over! time for the weekend. i hope you all enjoyed the chapter! as always, pls comment and kudos! <3


	6. happy christmas, padfoot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fuck zodiac signs, what scent is your shampoo?

**chapter six**

**_saturday morning—_ **

Remus woke to a screech. He groaned and rolled over, only to find that Sirius was no longer in bed. It hit him then, face pressed into his pillow, that he and Sirius had just  _ shared a bed _ . Remus rolled onto his back, opened his bleary eyes, and sat up a bit so he was resting on his forearms and could survey the whole room. 

Before Remus could say anything, there was a crush, a lot of rustling, then Sirius burst from the bathroom, towel wrapped around his waist and an angry expression on his face. His curly hair was dripping.

“JAMES POTTER,” he nearly growled, “what the  _ fuck  _ is this?” 

James was howling with laughter, and had to dodge a shampoo bottle that Sirius had just chucked at his head. 

“What did you do with my shampoo?” Sirius was glaring at James, who was only just recovering his ability to speak. 

“Well, Pads, you were just so adorable cuddling with Moony when we came upstairs last night, and I couldn’t help myself … so,” he chuckled and looked at Peter, who was biting the insides of his cheeks to stop from laughing, “I switched your shampoo with eggnog.” 

“ _ What? _ ”

“The Muggle Christmas drink! Happy Christmas, Padfoot!” 

“Where did you even get it?” Sirius asked, his curiosity winning over his anger for just a moment. 

“I had my parents send me some from the Muggle village near our house. I thought we could spike it for our Christmas party next week.” Sirius looked almost proud, but then remembered he was supposed to be angry.

“You’re insufferable, Prongs.” He crossed his arms, and went back to glaring at his best friend. 

“Insufferable? Where’d you learn that one, Pads?” Remus called out, voice still laced with sleep.

“Moony! You’re up! And, to answer your question, I learned it last night from a ghost who looked  _ just  _ like you.” Sirius grinned at Remus, who returned the gesture. Peter and James, however, exchanged confused looks. 

“What the hell does that mean? Is that like a euphemism or something?” James asked. 

“Oh you are on  _ thin ice _ , Potter.” 

“Doesn’t answer my question…” 

“Moony, I’m going to use your shampoo,” he grumbled, as he turned to go back into the bathroom. 

“Ok.” 

“Y’know,” said Frank, after Sirius closed the door behind him, “it is a little weird that you guys shared a bed last night. I mean, what’s the point? Your beds are next to each other anyway.” 

“Loads of best friends share beds,” said Remus, a little defensively. 

“I thought you guys were dating.” 

“Oh! Yeah, we are. But, even if we  _ weren’t  _ it wouldn’t be that weird, right?” Remus had almost forgotten their prank, and had done a pretty crappy job of coming back from his slip up. 

“Right…” Frank said. “I’m almost certain there’s something weird going on with you four, but there always is, so I can’t be bothered to figure it out. Good luck at the game, James.”

Frank slipped out of the room, and snapped the door shut behind him. 

“Poor Frank,” said Peter, “we must annoy him so much.” 

“Were Sirius and I actually cuddling?” Remus asked, not thinking all that much about Frank and his feelings at the moment. 

“Practically  _ spooning _ . It was disgusting.” James said, scrunching his nose. 

“That’s homophobic, James.” Sirius said, walking out of the bathroom, hair freshly washed with Remus’s Tea Tree shampoo. 

“Wait! No! I didn’t mean it like that, idiot,” James threw something at Sirius, but he stopped it with a flick of his wand. 

“Whatever you say, Prongs. Although I will say that it wasn’t ‘spooning’ when Moony hit me in the face.” 

“Hey! You hit me in the face too! I have an excuse anyway, since I was having nightmares and all. I’m pretty sure you knew what you were signing up for.” Remus hurriedly pulled on his sweater so he could respond. Today, he was wearing a red and gold striped one his mother had knit him. 

“Yours was more of a punch, I’d say. I wouldn’t be surprised if it bruised.” Sirius was grinning, and Remus rolled his eyes.

“Bruised?! You’re ridiculous. Let me see it.” 

“See it?” 

“Yeah! Come here, since you’re so injured…” Remus made a grab for Sirius, who was standing by his bed wearing only trousers, his own knit sweater in his hands. Remus recognized it as the green sweater his cousin Bellatrix had given him for Christmas last year, which he took the liberty of turning a deep maroon with a color-changing charm as soon as he got back to school. Sirius dodged his grasp with a laugh. 

“Peter, I feel like we should leave… this seems like a private moment…” James muttered, as he and Peter watched them play fight. 

“I’m honestly shocked they aren’t  _ really  _ dating at this point…” Peter murmured. 

“I feel the same. It’s not looking good, Pete. They’re truly clueless.” 

The Marauders made their way down to breakfast that morning much more energetic than the last. James entered first with the rest of the Quidditch team to loud cheers from most of the hall. When Sirius and Remus entered, followed by Peter, whispers broke out amongst the students. 

“This is brilliant!” James said, once they were all sitting down. “Everyone totally thinks you’re dating. I mean, did you hear the  _ whispers _ ? I heard some pretty crazy rumors coming from the Ravenclaw table.” 

“Oh God, I don’t even want to know,” Remus said, sneaking a look behind them at some Ravenclaw sixth years who were watching him and Sirius and giggling madly.

“Oi! Frank!” called Sirius, trying to gain the other boy’s attention. Frank raised an eyebrow at him. He was sitting a few seats down on the other side of the table, next to his girlfriend Alice. “Have you been telling everyone what Remus and I did last night? Because that would go against the Marauder’s Code, which you happen to be a part of honorarily since we share a dormitory, as I’m sure you know.” 

Frank rolled his eyes in response, which Sirius took as a no, and Remus choked on his pumpkin juice. 

“Sirius, you just made that ten times worse than it had to be,” Remus grumbled after his coughing fit. 

“Well, I didn’t want to give it  _ all  _ away. Gotta keep a little mystery, y’know?” Sirius said. The other three boys looked at him in silence. 

“What the fuck are you on about?” Remus asked, incredulously. “You do realize that by not saying that we, say, fell asleep in the same bed, which isn’t anyone’s business to begin with, you are going to inspire a whole slew of rumors, most of which I’d really rather not have to listen to in class or when I pass people in the halls.” 

“I like it when you swear,” said Sirius, scooping eggs onto his plate. 

“You’re impossible.” 

“Insufferable might be the word you’re looking for there, dear.” 

Remus sighed, though he was smiling, and went back to his breakfast. He caught Lily’s eyes, and she looked like she was going to speak, but closed her mouth again, deciding against it. He supposed she felt a little awkward about the whole werewolf thing. It was fine with Remus; he didn’t want to talk about it either. 

“I  _ love  _ Quidditch…” James said some minutes later, dreamily picking at his breakfast. 

“Oh, trust me, we know.” Peter said. James pretended not to have heard him. 

“You know, if I ever have a son, I’ll train him to be the best Quidditch player in the world.” 

“What if you have a daughter?” Lily asked. 

“Oh, well obviously I’d do the same.” There was a moment’s quiet, before James looked over at Lily with a grin. “Are you saying you want to have kids with me?” 

“Oh,  _ Merlin. _ ” Sirius groaned. Remus dropped his face into his hands and Peter sighed heavily. Lily was blushing a little as she tried to hide her grin. 

“What? It was just a question!” James exclaimed defensively. 

“Can we just have one normal conversation this morning? One that doesn’t end up…  _ here _ ?” Remus asked, stabbing at his egg with his fork, his discarded toast crusts on the side of his plate. 

“Are you going to eat those?” Sirius asked, prodding the crusts on Remus’ plate.

“Nah, you can have them. I’m surprised you asked this time.” 

“Well, we’re dating now, so I figured that means I need to ask for your crusts.” 

“I’m not sure where the logic lies in that, but I appreciate the gesture.” 

Peter, Remus, Sirius, and Lily left the Great Hall at the end of breakfast without James, who left a few minutes earlier with his team, and made their way through the chill morning to the pitch, bundled in Gryffindor scarves and hats and gloves. 

They found spots in the front row, and Remus, using one of the charms they’d just learned, created a small ball of fire. It hovered before the four of them, and warmed their frozen noses and fingers. Sirius was only just getting into an ingenious prank he’d thought up, when James, out of breath, ran down their row and stopped in front of Sirius. In his shock, Remus let the fire fizzle out with a puff of grey smoke. 

“Pads, mate, we need you to fill in as a beater.” 

“What?” Sirius played Quidditch with James for fun, but he’d never actually played on the team. 

“Ours, Gudgeon, just started throwing up like mad and won’t stop. I definitely saw Snivellus muttering under his breath as we left the hall. I think he hexed him…” 

“That  _ bastard _ ! Surely that’s against the rules? I mean, can’t you bring it up with McGonagall or someone?” Sirius asked, leaning around James to see the Slytherin box, eyes scanning the crowds for Snape. 

“Sirius, the game starts in ten minutes! We need you.” James seemed panicked, and, knowing how much it meant to him, Sirius agreed. 

“Oh, alright. I’ll do it. But if I make you guys lose, you can’t be mad at me.” 

“Do you think the Slytherins will target you two?” Remus asked, eyes also trained on Snape and his friends in the front row of their box, sniggering to themselves. “I mean, I’m sure the team won’t since they’ll get in trouble, but Snape and his cronies might be able to get away with a few hexes.” 

“Remus has a point. You’ll stay safe, won’t you?” Lily asked, her hands clasped nervously in her lap. James gave her a quick peck on the forehead. 

“I’d like to see them try. We’ll be fine, promise. And, Sirius, if you  _ do  _ make us lose, I will be returning your Christmas present.” 

Sirius was given Gudgeon’s robes, the boy himself having been carted away by Madam Pomfrey some minutes before he arrived. Sirius was happy because he was able to use his new top of the line broom, which he’d bought the summer before school started as a congrats-on-starting-your-final-year-of-school-and-running-away-from-your-family present. He was glad he was finally putting it to some good use. 

The team sat him down in the dressing rooms once they were all ready, with only minutes to spare, and began to desperately explain every last detail of their game plan. They were all talking over each other, and little arguments kept breaking out. 

“Okay, okay, what am  _ I _ supposed to  _ do _ ?” Sirius asked, tilting his head in an attempt to understand the annotated map of the Quidditch pitch in front of him. Colored arrows, illegible writing, and the occasional squiggle adorned every inch of the map. Marlene, who happened to be the team captain, sighed, irritated. 

“Sirius! Just listen to me!” she said, arms crossed, her eyes flicking to the clock every few moments. “ _ You  _ just stay out of the way. Fly above everyone, and make sure there aren’t any stray bludgers. I know you’re a good flier, but try not to intervene too much, okay?” 

“Not intervening isn’t really Padfoot’s style,” said James, grinning despite the stress of the moment. 

“He’s about to get well-acquainted with it.” Marlene replied grimly. 

Sirius found that he quite enjoyed playing for the team. He liked the feeling of pushing off from the ground, the wind whistling in his ears, watching the students turn into a multicolored blur. He tried to look for Remus, and found him easily, cheering and laughing with Lily and Peter. Sirius watched him for a moment, but had to tear his eyes away eventually to focus on the game. 

He did a few laps around the pitch, watching the Slytherin beaters carefully. He passed James a few times as he searched for the Snitch. Gryffindor was winning by twenty points when Sirius decided to go a little higher for more of a bird’s eye view. He didn’t go too far, in case he was needed, so he ended up hovering just above the game, eyes scanning the players below him. He caught sight of Remus again, cheering as Gryffindor scored, and remembered the night before. Sirius flew a little lower again, and began a few more lazy laps around the pitch.

He was thinking about how Remus had actually let him sleep in bed with him when there was a loud  _ whoosh _ by his ear, and a bludger streaked past him. Sirius spun around, and was met with the leering face of one of the Slytherin beaters. 

“Don’t get distracted, Black. You wouldn’t want to get hurt and ruin that pretty face of yours.” 

“I appreciate the compliment, Goyle, but you’re not my type.” Sirius hit the bludger hard, and Goyle nearly fell off his broom in an attempt to avoid it. 

“Nice one, Pads!” James said on his way past. Sirius grinned at him. He was just going to respond when the other Slytherin beater, who was behind Sirius, hit the bludger back towards him. Sirius didn’t see it this time, and it slammed into his broom, splintering the handle and causing Sirius to be chucked off towards the hard, snowy ground. 

“Do you think James has seen the snitch yet?” Lily asked, hands tight around the banister of the Gryffindor box, eyes scanning the game in front of her. 

“I’m sure he’s got some idea. I swear he has a sixth sense for that thing,” said Peter. He was standing to the left of Remus, who was standing next to Lily.

“Do you think they told him to stay out of the way?” Remus asked, watching as Sirius made another loop around the pitch. 

“Probably. Oh, look! Sirius just hit that bludger at Goyle!” Lily leaned over the edge of their box, trying to see the scene better. 

“Good one!” Peter whooped. 

“Yeah but look! Mulciber’s going to hit that other one at him!” Remus grabbed onto Lily’s arm unthinkingly in a moment of panic. He was pleased when she didn’t pull away. His pleasure quickly melted away however. “Sirius!” he shouted. It was no use. Sirius couldn’t hear him and he wouldn’t have been able to dodge the bludger in time. Remus watched, as if in slow motion, as he fell to the ground, landing in a heap on the remnants of last night’s snow. 

An hour later, Sirius had gained quite the audience around his hospital bed. Remus sat to the left of him, holding his hand (because he wanted to, although he tried to justify it by thinking James would get a kick out of it). Peter sat on the other side next to James, and Lily and the rest of the Quidditch team were huddled around the foot of his bed. 

“Padfoot! How do you feel?” James asked, when Sirius first opened his eyes. 

“Er, hungry,” he said, blinking up at the ceiling. “Head hurts a bit.” 

Everyone let out a sigh of relief. 

“What?” Sirius asked, cracking a small smile, “did you think I was seriously injured?” 

“You broke some ribs and your arm, not to mention you fell nearly twenty feet!” Remus said. Sirius turned to look at him, and his eyes traveled down to their connected hands. Remus tried to pull his hands away, but Sirius was too quick for him and held on tight. 

“Mending bones is nothing, Lupin. Surely you—” Sirius broke off, realizing what he was actually about to say. “Er, I mean...Sorry.” 

“It’s fine,” murmured Remus quietly, tearing his eyes away from him. 

“We were really worried,” Lily said, sitting down on the edge of the bed. 

“Aw, thanks Flower. By the way, James, I’ll have you know you’re going to need to find a new back-up. I’m  _ not  _ doing that again,” said Sirius. James chuckled. 

“Noted. Although you should know that we won! I mean, we had to end the game once you fell, but we were winning before that and Slytherin got disqualified so  _ basically  _ we won.” 

Sirius sat up too fast, yelped when a sharp pain shot through his head, and was pushed back down again by Peter and Remus. 

“That’s brilliant,” he said with a grin, hand pressed up against his throbbing head. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked the chapter !! When I was writing it I got some ~really~ good ideas for future chapters so get excited for that haha. see you next time ! ily ! pls comment and kudos <3


	7. the epitome of youth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> good evening! i've been pretty busy lately so it's been a few days since my last update, but I'm hoping i'll have some time to just chill and write soon. my main note for this chapter is that i've added midterms to hogwarts? i assumed they had like pre-christmas break tests but i don't think they do and honestly i don't even think it's a think in the U.K. in general. anyway, they're a part of the story now lol.

**chapter seven**

**_saturday afternoon—_ **

It was early afternoon when the snow started up again. The Marauders were lounged about the common room, trying to study for their exams and ignore the sounds of the younger kids screeching happily as they ran around outside. 

“Why are they having so much  _ fun _ ?” Sirius groaned, letting his head fall onto his open potions textbook. He’d been let out of the hospital wing around lunch, and was feeling much better. Madam Pomfrey had given him a potion for his headache and he couldn’t even feel his recently mended bones anymore. His only lasting wound was his now destroyed broomstick (his friends had to listen to hours of “I  _ just  _ bought it! I mean I’d ridden it like, a handful of times and…” In short, they had been carefully avoiding any conversation that could possibly turn towards Quidditch since lunch).

“I suspect they aren’t as stressed about getting good grades as we are. We’ve got NEWTS coming up, and these mid-term exams give us a good look at our end of year exams,” Remus said. He was laying across the couch, face hidden behind a book. Old assignments and papers littered the ground around him. Occasionally he’d summon one, read it over, then let it fall back down onto the rug. 

“ _ I’m  _ not stressed about grades.” Sirius said firmly, sitting up again and turning to look at Remus. Sirius was sprawled out on the rug next to the fire, a neat stack of books next to his head. Remus looked up from behind his Ancient Runes book and gave Sirius a pointed look. Sirius groaned again. “Oh, Merlin, I  _ am  _ stressed about grades…” he let his head fall back down onto his book.

“Just think! One week from now we’ll be done with exams, Christmas will be days away, and we’ll be at Hogsmeade,” James said, staring dreamily out of the snow-speckled window. 

“I am excited for Christmas…” said Sirius thoughtfully, as if the realization had only just occurred to him. 

“Really?” said Peter, jumping at any excuse to look away from Remus’s astronomy paper he was trying to decipher. 

“Yeah, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say you’re  _ excited  _ for Christmas,” said James, eyebrows furrowed. Sirius rolled onto his back, so he was staring up at the ceiling. 

“Well, you wouldn’t be excited either if you were going back to my family’s home. My parents are a nightmare, not to mention my extended family. Narcissa isn’t the worst, but Bellatrix can be awful. And then there’s their husbands…” The boys sat quietly as they listened to Sirius. He didn’t often go on about his family, but obviously it did really bother him. He took a breath, and continued. “They’re all just constantly nagging at me and trying to get under my skin, since I’m the _disappointment_ of the family, as they often remind me. Andromeda is the only cool one, but of course she’s not allowed anywhere near our Christmas since she married that muggle and had a baby with him. She’ll sneak me presents occasionally, or send them straight to Hogwarts.”

“I’m sorry, Sirius,” Remus said, quietly. 

“Yeah, mate. I know how much your family  _ sucks _ . But you’re an honorary Potter now, not to mention a Marauder. You never have to set foot in that house again, I promise,” said James.

“Thanks guys. You know, this Christmas will be the first I’ve spent here at Hogwarts,” said Sirius, sitting up and looking around at his friends.

“We’ll make it the best Christmas of your life,” said Remus, smiling at Sirius. James grinned widely. 

“Yeah! We’ve got our first, and last, Marauder’s Hogwarts Christmas party planned…” 

“And the spiked eggnog!” added Peter. 

“Are you guys really going to spike that eggnog? That isn’t very befitting of a Head Boy, James.” Remus said, pretending to be serious but failing to hide the smile playing across his lips. 

“Pretty sure that being Head Boy actually gives me more power than you, Mr. Prefect, so yes, the eggnog will be spiked, and I’m afraid that there’s nothing you can do about it.” 

“Well, you can’t say I didn’t try.”

The four boys slipped back into an easy silence, flipping open their books again and reading back over their papers. They were interrupted again, however, when Sirius spoke a few minutes later. He was resting on his elbows, looking over his potions textbook with furrowed brows, strands of hair falling into his eyes. Remus had secretly been watching him over the top of his book for some time.

“Does anyone know what potions Slughorn is going to have us make?” Sirius asked. Remus quickly brought his eyes back to his textbook before anyone saw who he had been looking at. 

“Dunno. He mentioned Amortentia the other day, even though that was one we learned last year. He always gives easy exams, so I wouldn’t be surprised if that one was there… not sure what else though. Ask Lily, I’m sure she’d know,” said James, not looking up from an old charms essay. 

“You could ask Snivellus, his other favorite,” suggested Peter, sniggering. 

“Yeah, right. I’d rather kiss the giant squid than ask him for potions help. Can you imagine?” Sirius said, pretending to gag. 

“We need to get those Slytherins back for what they did at the game today,” said James, pushing away his studying for a more interesting topic. 

“Something  _ big _ …” 

“Sirius, are you going to study any more?” Remus asked, closing his book with a soft snap. 

“No, don’t think so.” Sirius turned to look at him, and Remus thought his heart might burst. It was silly, considering they’d been in the same room all afternoon together, but something about him looking Remus straight in the eyes, hair messy, and a soft smile on his face, made Remus’s heart beat wildly. 

“Would you mind running down and getting me a snack from the kitchens? I’m thinking—” began Remus, desperately trying to push down his feelings. He couldn’t finish his sentence however, because Sirius swung his head around to look at James, eyes alight. 

“The kitchens!” he exclaimed, jumping up onto his feet. 

“I—what?” Remus asked, taken aback. Sirius grabbed his hands and pulled him up from the couch, a mischievous smile already forming on his lips. In that moment, Remus thought he looked like the epitome of youth. He tried to memorize every inch of his face, knowing their future lay uncertain and dangerous in front of them, and such moments of frivolous childhood fun might soon be hard to find. 

Sirius, refusing to tell anyone his plan, led his friends to the kitchens, his and Remus’s fingers laced together the whole way down. Remus had become used to holding his hand, and thought he might miss it when they were no longer pretending to date. 

When they reached the hallway, they had to quickly duck behind a tapestry as a few shivering second-year Hufflepuffs shuffled past, all lost in thoughts of warm clothes and a fire. The boys grinned at each other, energy lost studying replaced by the thrill and adrenaline of breaking the rules. 

Sirius tickled the pear on the portrait to the kitchens, and they entered, the elves greeting them enthusiastically. 

“Mr. Black, sir, what is it you are needing today?” the elf’s eyes were wide, a tiered cake wobbling in her arms. James took the cake from the elf before it toppled over and set it on a nearby table. 

“Well, my friend Moony here would like some snacks…” Sirius was scanning the room, watching the elves carrying food this way and that. 

“Surely you didn’t bring  _ everyone  _ down here just so I could get food. I thought you had a plan,” Remus said, following Sirius’s eyes with his own. Sirius turned to him with a grin.

“I do, my love,”—Remus’s heart fluttered—”but you have the floor.” He made an exaggerated gesture towards the small army of elves that had gathered to take his order. Remus perched himself on the edge of a chair, and thought about what he wanted. 

“I’m not feeling all that great,” he began, feeling the residual aches in his bones deeply once he spoke it aloud, “so perhaps I’ll just have a bar of chocolate, if you’ve got any.” 

“Oh, we do, Mr. Lupin. Would you like a tea?” the elf before him asked. Remus was going to say no, but felt persuaded by the wide-eyed creature in front of him. 

“Um, alright. If it’s no trouble.” 

“No trouble at all, sir.” 

Remus leant back in his chair and watched as the elves scurried away, all on a mission to get his chocolate and boil his water. 

“Something about house elves just doesn’t sit right with me…” mused Remus, watching them work. His friends were paying no attention to him, but were watching Sirius pace the length of the room. James was watching anxiously, wanting to be included, and Peter was watching with his eyes wide, as usual, as if awed by the boy before him.

It wasn’t until two small house elves delivered Remus his steaming tea cup and massive bar of chocolate that Sirius finally spoke up. He was standing at the head of one of the long, wooden tables.

“This is the Slytherin table, isn’t it?” Sirius asked one of the elves, hands pressed flat against the old wood.

“Yes, sir. What is it you are needing?” The elf probed. 

“I’ve got a favor to ask.” 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you enjoyed the chapter! i've loved reading the comments you've all been leaving so thank you for that!


	8. for my friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you all for almost 1,000 hits !

**chapter eight**

**_saturday evening—_ **

The Marauders were grinning widely when they walked into the Great Hall that evening for dinner. It had taken a lot of convincing, but the elves eventually agreed to their plan. One might say that the house elves had been  _ forced _ into the prank, but the Marauders would swear that wasn’t true. 

The four boys were talking amongst themselves about the evening’s prank, and didn’t even notice the whispers that were flooding the hall as they walked to their seats by the other seventh years. 

“Are they talking about us again?” Sirius asked, eventually catching on to the hushed conversations. Dinner had yet to be served, but every once and awhile the Marauders would send a glance towards the Slytherin table.

“No,” said Lily casually, “Marlene and Hestia got caught making out in a broom cupboard, so they’re talking about that I imagine.” 

“ _ What? _ ” said Sirius, mouth open. 

“Yeah, I didn’t even know we  _ had  _ broom cupboards here. It just kinda appeared,” said Marlene with a shrug.

“Aw, that handy ol’ Room of Requirement…” said James, unmoved. Sirius turned to Remus, incredulous.

“Moony, they’re one-upping us! This is ridiculous.” 

“We are not  _ one-upping  _ you, Sirius. You two aren’t the only gay people at this school. Maybe if you want people to gossip about you,  _ you  _ should get caught in a broom cupboard.” Marlene rolled her eyes, and Hestia chuckled quietly from beside her. Remus’s heart lurched at the thought. They’d never even kissed, let alone make out. In fact, they weren’t even dating to begin with. Remus wondered what they’d think of that. It was all one big lie, even if Remus’s feelings  _ were _ real (Sirius’s weren’t, Remus was sure, he was just good at playing along).

“Who says I’m gay?” challenged Sirius, eyebrow cocked.

“Who says  _ I’m  _ gay?” Marlene shot back.

“Hm, fair play.” 

“Wait, how are they not gay?” whispered Peter to James, confused. 

“Dunno. Bisexual, I guess,” James whispered back, watching Sirius and Marlene’s little back-and-forth with great interest. “Didn’t you guys date fifth year?” he asked, louder so they’d hear him.

“Oh, we did!” Sirius exclaimed. “Forgot about that.” 

“I’m not surprised you forgot, you were a shit boyfriend,” Marlene grinned at him, and he chuckled. 

“Yeah, well, I’ve really improved my boyfriend skills, I’ll have you know.”

Remus shrugged when they all looked his way, as if expecting confirmation. 

“I can neither confirm nor deny…” It wasn’t a lie, really. 

“Moony, this is unbelievable, I thought you’d stick up for me!” then Sirius rounded on Marlene and Hestia, “Also, I’ll have you two know that this is not the end of this, and we will be getting you back.”

“Getting us back? What—” Hestia began, but was interrupted by James waving his arms around wildly, for the food had just appeared on the table, meaning the prank had begun. Sirius immediately dropped his conversation with the girls, and swung his head around, trying to see the Slytherin’s first reactions. 

It  _ was  _ quite funny. At first, they didn’t seem to notice anything was amiss, but slowly, as they heard the clink of glasses and china, and heard the students delight in the dinner before them, heads began to turn, and the Slytherins realised that they were the only table who hadn’t received any food. 

“Is this a joke?” Regulus Black muttered to his friends, glaring at the Gryffindor table, laden with food. Sirius sniggered at this, and sent his brother an overly-cheery wave. Regulus rolled his eyes and looked away from them, down to his empty plate. 

Some people who had friends in other houses were going over to get food from them, and Dumbledore eventually noticed what was going on. He announced that he was going to go figure out what the matter was, and swept out of the hall. 

“Hm, that was anticlimactic,” sighed James, sipping his pumpkin juice. 

“Do you think Dumbledore will figure out it was us when he goes downstairs to find we covered the Slytherin table in socks?” Sirius asked. 

“Yeah, I imagine,” Remus said with a short laugh. Lily looked disapprovingly at them from across the table. 

“That was not nice!” she exclaimed. 

“Well, they wouldn’t do what I asked. It was Peter’s idea anyway. He doesn’t have many, so…” Sirius shrugged. Peter wasn’t sure whether to be angry or pleased, so he said nothing. 

“If they don’t give us food for our party tonight, Black, we’re going to have an issue,” Marlene told him, waving her wand at him rather threateningly. Sirius leant closer to Remus, as if he might save him from whatever hex Marlene would throw at him.

“We already have an issue,  _ McKinnon _ ,” said Sirius. “But no, the elves will be fine. I told them we had to do it because the Slytherin’s were going on a trip to Hogsmede for the evening and wouldn’t be eating in the hall tonight, so if I put the socks on the table they wouldn’t forget to not put food on it.” Sirius said with a shrug.

“You lied to them?” Lily said, exasperated. 

“Yeah, it wasn’t even a good lie,” Alice said, eyebrows furrowed. 

“Well, what were they going to do,  _ check _ ?” Sirius snorted, as if such an idea was ridiculous. 

“I mean, they might have. The elves do go around the castle, it’s not like they’re locked in the kitchen. You’d know that if you read Hogwarts: A History,” Remus pointed out.

“I’ve read Hogwarts: A History,  _ obviously _ . What do you think I read as a child, fairy tales?” 

“I thought you couldn’t read,” Remus pointed out with a grin.

“Yeah, whatever, Moony.” Sirius shoved him playfully with his shoulder. 

The Slytherins did eventually get their meal, but were left to eat alone in the hall, as everyone had finished already. The Gryfindors were the first to go, already getting excited for their Quidditch victory party. Just as they reached the door, however, McGonagall stepped in front of them. 

“Good evening boys.” The Marauders exchanged worried glances. “Follow me, please.” McGonnagal saying please, generally, was a good sign. She wasn’t so angry that she got rid of basic manners. They had done worse, after all. 

They were seasoned rule-breakers, and were hardly even nervous after being sat down in front of McGonagall, her eyes roaming over them disapprovingly in silence. Peter was the only one cracking under the pressure, and kept shooting nervous glances at his friends. 

“I know it was you four who pulled that stunt at dinner. It  _ always  _ is,” she said eventually, hands clasped on her office table. 

“It was my idea,” Remus announced, meeting her eyes calmly and cooly. Sirius opened his mouth to protest, but Remus kicked him under the chair. “I didn’t like the way they acted at the game today, and I wanted to get them back, for my friends.” 

“So Potter, Black, and Pettigrew weren’t involved at all?” McGonagall asked, eyebrows raised. “That seems unlikely…” 

“We were involved, Professor. It wasn’t just Remus,” James said quickly, before Remus could speak. The boy in question shot him an irritated look. McGonagall looked between them all, and smiled ever so slightly.

“I’ll give you a warning this time boys, because it’s Christmas. But I’d like you to stay out of trouble for the next few weeks, as it  _ will _ be a detention next time.”

“Thanks, Professor! Have you got any more biscuits?” Sirius asked, casting his eyes around the room, as if looking for the tin on one of the shelves around the room. 

“Yes, I have, Mr. Black.” McGonagall sighed, in a fond way, and pulled out her old biscuit tin. Sirius thanked her with a grin, grabbed two biscuits, and handed one to Remus as they walked out the door.

“Thanks, Sirius,” Remus said, nibbling on the edge.

“You didn’t have to take the blame, you know.” James said, his own biscuit in his hand. 

“It didn’t really matter to me,” Remus shrugged. “I didn’t want you guys to get in trouble.”

Sirius looked over at him fondly, and slipped his biscuit-free hand into Remus’s biscuit-free hand. He thought he saw Remus blush a little, but couldn’t be entirely sure.

When they arrived at the Common Room, decorations were beginning to go up, under the direction of Marlene and Mary. A group of Gryffindors sat in the corner, hunched over a long piece of parchment, and arguing loudly about what food they should get. 

Sirius, Remus, James, and Peter slipped past them all, and headed up to their dormitory to drop off the Marauder’s Map, which they’d used earlier when sneaking down to the kitchens. 

“Erm, Padfoot? I think there’s an owl for you,” Peter said. He’d walked over to the window where a large dark owl was pecking at the glass. 

“ _ Shit _ .” Sirius swore, flopping face-first onto his bed. He spoke again, his voice muffled by his pillows. “Someone read it to me.” 

James swung the window open, and let the owl perch on his finger. Remus untied the letter, and unfurled it. Peter stood on his tip-toes to read over Remus’s shoulder.

“Hm, it’s from Bellatrix,” he began, “she says your family is expecting you for Christmas. Seems like it’s all for appearances though, I guess there’s going to be a large pure-blood reunion, dinner party thing.” 

“Merlin, sounds like a nightmare,” Sirius rolled over onto his back. “I swear, Bellatrix is going to kill me one day. I mean, who does she think she is? She’s my cousin, not my  _ mother _ .”

“I’m surprised your mother didn’t write you, actually,” Remus said, flipping the letter over to see if she’d written anything else before handing it over to Sirius. He took it, and ripped it into shreds. 

“I imagine she’ll be next. Perhaps a howler, that’ll be really her style,” Sirius looked over at the owl then. “You can tell Bellatrix to fuck off, if you don’t mind.” 

James glanced at the owl, then back at Sirius. 

“I’m not sure if you’ve forgotten, but I don’t think he can speak.” 

Sirius stomped over to his desk, grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill, and wrote “ _ fuck off _ ” in his finest cursive. Signing it with a flourish, he tied the letter to the owl’s leg and flung it unceremoniously back out of the window 

“You’re brave, mate,” James commented, watching the owl fly into the clouds.

“Well I’m in Gryffindor for a reason, aren’t I? Ready to go down?” He turned back towards the door, muttering as he walked, “ _ demanding I go to Christmas. I don’t even live with them! I mean, a Pure-blood party? Assholes.” _

The three remaining Marauders exchanged looks, but had to hurry to catch up to Sirius, who had already begun angrily stomping down the stairs. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi :) next chapter will most likely be the end of saturday and the party. also, i've introduced the whole marlene/hestia thing in this chap! this fic is wolfstar mostly, but marlene and hestia will pop up occasionally 4 me and my fellow lesbians. i hope you liked this chapter! comment and kudos if you'd like ! <3


	9. pet rabbit

**chapter nine**

**_saturday night—_ **

By the time Remus, Peter, and James made it downstairs, Sirius was already sipping on a Firewhisky one of the sixth years was handing out. He was sitting on one of the chairs by the fire, still glowering a little. 

“Drinking away our problems, are we?” Remus asked, crossing over to him and perching himself on the arm of the chair. Sirius looked up at him, and, If Remus was not mistaken, his dark eyes softened just a little.

“Yep, wanna try?” Sirius held out the bottle, but Remus shook his head. 

“No, it’s too soon. Alcohol doesn’t really mesh well with…well, you know.” 

“Your furry little problem?” Sirius suggested helpfully. Remus rolled his eyes.

“Have you got a pet rabbit?” piped up a voice from behind the two, bursting their little bubble. Both turned to see a small second year boy who had clearly overheard their conversation. 

“Erm, yeah, I do. He’s a bit of a nightmare, really. I’ve got to feed him later, so it'd be better if I was sober. He’s um, got quite the set of teeth on him, as you can see,” Remus gestured vaguely to the visible scars on his face, hands, and wrists. The second year nodded solemnly, as if this made sense. 

“My brother’s got a rabbit; it nearly bit his finger off once,” said the boy. Sirius chuckled darkly, and Remus glared down at him. Thankfully, one of the boy’s friends pulled him away, and they were saved from any more conversation with him. 

“I don’t know why they always believe that,” Remus said, smiling slightly. 

“Maybe rabbits are more violent than we think,” Sirius suggested with a shrug. He took a large swig of his drink, then, before Remus could protest, snuck an arm around his waist and pulled him off the arm of the chair and onto his lap. 

“Sirius!” laughed Remus. He tried to stand up, but Sirius was holding him tight. “What are you doing?” 

“Sitting with you,” he murmured, setting down his now-empty Firewhisky bottle on the floor and wrapping his other arm around Remus, both hands clutching at the worn yarn of his sweater. “Moony?” 

“Yes?” 

“Truth or dare?” 

“Really?”

“ _ Yes _ . Go on, you have to answer.” 

“Well, as Wormtail pointed out earlier, we actually don’t have any rules for truth or dare, so I don’t have to answer.” Remus felt the flutter of Sirius’s breath on the side of his face as he sighed deeply.

“ _ Remus _ .” 

“Okay, okay. Truth.” Remus chuckled at the glare Sirius sent his way. “You can’t  _ always  _ pick dare, you know.” 

“Fine. Do you love me?” He spoke quietly, and Remus hardly even heard him over the increasing din of the party. He let his eyes flick around the room. James and Lily were pouring over the list for the kitchens, and Peter was talking animatedly with a sixth year girl in the corner. He looked back at Sirius. His eyes were big, and a curl had fallen out of place and had stopped to rest centimeters from his eyelashes. Remus, despite his better judgement, pushed the curl back behind his ear. 

“Of course I love you, Sirius. You know that.” 

“Yeah,” he said slowly, catching Remus’s hand as it fell from his face, and holding it in one of his, threading their fingers together. “But do you  _ love me,  _ love me?”

Suddenly, Remus didn’t feel like they were pretending anymore. He wasn’t even sure how drunk Sirius was. He opened his mouth to answer, not sure what was going to come out of it, but was saved by James sauntering over, Lily at his heels. 

“ _ Goodness  _ me,” began James, voice high pitched in an—admittedly wonderful—impression of his mother. “what  _ have  _ we got here?”

“Merlin, can’t even cuddle in peace these days!” Sirius groaned. “Where’d that girl go? With the Firewhisky? P… P something. What was her name?” 

“I don’t think you need any more alcohol.” 

“So you admit you’re cuddling?” 

Remus and James had spoken in synchronicity, but Sirius only bothered to respond to Remus.

“I’ve only had  _ one _ .” 

“One’s enough, I’d say,” interjected Lily. Sirius pouted at her. 

“Lils! You’re supposed to be nice to me today!” 

“I  _ am  _ being nice. Besides, I’m pretty sure me being nice to you only applied yesterday, and therefore has been over since midnight.” Sirius only sighed dramatically, and hid his face in Remus’s shoulder. 

“Right, well, we came here to say that you and Lily are going down to the kitchens to get the food, Moony. There was a bit of a fight about what to get, so that’s why it took so long to get the list in order,” said James, absentmindedly running a hand through his messy hair as he glanced down at the list in front of him. 

“Why me and Lily?” Remus asked, beginning to extract himself from the cage that was Sirius desperately gripping onto him.

“We all thought the elves would be nicest to you two, after what happened this evening.” James remembered the incident with a smile. 

“Yeah, I guess that makes—Sirius,  _ please _ let go of me!” 

Five minutes later Lily and Remus found themselves walking down the deserted Hogwarts hallways. They were Head Girl and Prefect, respectively, so neither felt too nervous walking around after hours. There were, however, other reasons to be nervous. They hadn’t truly spoken since Lily made her discovery about Remus being a werewolf, and neither could quite come up with a good conversation starter. 

_ “So, heard you figured out that I’m a werewolf!”  _ Remus thought to himself. He crossed that off the list; it was too…cheery, he supposed. 

_ “Listen, I’m dreadfully dreadfully sorry I figured out your secret. I shouldn’t have erm, thought so hard about it?”  _ No, Lily decided, that didn’t work at all. 

_ “I know I’m a monster, and you must feel really lied to, but I hope we can still be friends?”  _ Not too bad, Remus thought, but it could definitely use some improvement. 

“Remus?” Lily said, out loud. He turned to her, having been so lost in his own thoughts he hardly remembered she was there.

“Yeah?” 

“You know that I know, right?” Remus snorted.

“Yeah, I know,” he said. He wasn’t sure how their conversation was going to begin, but he hadn’t thought it would be like that. “I’m sorry. I know you probably feel that I’ve lied to you. We don’t have to hang out anymore, if you’d like. It’ll be hard, with James and everything, but I’ll just see him when you  _ aren’t _ seeing him and—”

“Are you being serious?” Lily asked him. She sounded almost angry, and Remus looked over at her in surprise. 

“Erm…” 

“Of course I want to hang out with you, idiot. You’re the same Remus, only now I know your friends turn into animals once a month.” 

“ _ And  _ I turn into a werewolf,” Remus muttered. 

“Well, you haven’t changed in my eyes. You’re still as smart, as funny, as clever, as  _ handsome _ —” Remus laughed.

“Okay, okay, I get it. Thank you Lily.” 

“No problem. What was Sirius whispering about earlier?” 

“Oh, Merlin,  _ that.  _ He was asking if I loved him. I’m pretty sure he was drunk.” Remus chuckled at this, but Lily stayed silent, thinking. 

“He was barely drunk, I’d bet. Do you think he’s into you? I mean, he did sleep in your bed last night.” 

“How’d you hear that?” 

“Frank. You should hear the rumors. They are rather creative, I’ll give them that.” Now Lily laughed, while Remus grimaced. 

“Well, I don’t think he’s into me. I mean, we’ve been best mates for years, surely he would say something.” 

“That’s pretty poor logic considering you have also been his best mate for years, and could have said something,” Lily pointed out. 

“Oh, true. Well, uh…” Remus grappled with his response. “Oh, I don’t know. I just don’t think he likes me… in that way.”

“You never know,” Lily nudged him playfully with her shoulder, and he looked over at her, exasperated. 

“Yeah, okay. New conversation topic, have you and James started a baby name list?” Remus teased her, a grin on his face. Lily glared at him, but her lips were just barely quirked up in a smile. 

“Oh, shut up, Lupin.” 

Remus and Lily had to spend some time in the kitchens as the elves—who were rather irritated after the night’s affair—prepared all their food. Eventually, however, they made it back to the common room, following platters upon platters of food that were levitated in front of them.

The party had truly begun since the two left. Marlene, Mary, Hestia, and Alice were engaged in an intense game of Gobstones in one corner. Remus thought he saw Marlene and Hestia holding hands just under the table. Peter was still talking to the sixth year, and Remus wondered vaguely who she was. Most of the action was taking place around the fire, where students watched in awe (and second-hand embarrassment) as Sirius performed what seemed to be an entire ABBA concert. 

Sirius, who had definitely gotten a bit drunker since they’d last seen him, cheered loudly when they entered. Then, as if nothing had happened, he went straight into a verse of an ABBA song. The song was coming out of a little radio Sirius had charmed to work on the grounds. A group of third years trying to have a conversation glared at him and relocated to a more quiet corner of the room. James clapped wildly as Sirius started up.

“ _ Waterlooooo, knowing my fate is to be with youuu _ —” 

“How does he even know this song?” Remus asked, walking over to James once his platters of food made it safely on the table. 

“He spent nearly all summer listening to the muggle radio. He used to just sit in my dad’s car with the radio playing on top volume. It was pretty cathartic for him, I think.” James said.

“Besides, who  _ doesn’t  _ know ABBA?” Sirius asked, jumping over to them. Remus laughed as Sirius grabbed his hand and spun him around to the song. 

“I’m pretty sure every pureblood in this room doesn’t know who ABBA is,” Remus pointed out.

“James does.”

“Yeah, well,  _ James _ was pretty much forced to listen to hours and hours of your muggle music over the summer,” said James, crossing his arms. 

“And? You loved every minute,” Sirius said, his words slurring a little. He grabbed James’s hands and swung his arms around, forcing him to dance a little on the spot. Eventually he conceded with a grin. 

“Oh, alright. I didn’t really mind it. In fact, I was rather honored to be a part of your pureblood-exceptionalism rebellion.” 

“There you go, that’s the answer I was looking for,” said Sirius. As the song drew to a close, he jumped back into action, running back to the center of the room to finish off the last few lines. 

“ _ Ooh, oh Waterlooooo finally facing my Waterloo. Waterlooooo knowing my fate is to be with youuu. _ ”

“Have you told him he’s a shit singer?” Remus asked James. He nodded.

“Yeah, I have, believe it or not.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good evening! I hope you liked the chapter :). It was actually a pretty long one this time. Comment and kudos if you'd like! I love reading and responding to your comments. I hope you're all having a good start to your week!


	10. padfoot's jacket

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi! sorry it's been so long, i've been super busy. because of that, i wouldn't say that this chapter is all that great, but i hope you enjoy it anyway!

**chapter ten**

**_sunday morning—_ **

“Remus, what the hell are you wearing?” demanded Mary when he sat down to breakfast that morning. Remus grinned. 

“Padfoot’s jacket.” 

“Why?” Alice asked. “I mean, it doesn’t look  _ bad _ …” 

“Because we’ve swapped clothes,” said Sirius, who had walked into the great hall only moments after Remus, indeed wearing one of Remus’ knit cardigans. “But you’re right, Alice, it does suit him.” 

Remus shrugged, trying to hide his smile and the blush he could feel creeping up his neck. 

The night before, Remus had gone to bed a little after midnight, exhausted. Some time later, however, in the very early hours of the morning, he’d heard the tell-tale creak of Sirius’ steps as he walked into their empty dormitory, the party still in full swing. 

“Moony?” he’d whispered, peeking his head around the curtains. He giggled a little, obviously still somewhat drunk, and then slapped a hand across his mouth as if he’d said something awful. Remus had rolled his eyes.

“What, Pads? I’m trying to sleep.” 

“Let me join!” he’d whispered fervently. Remus had stared up at him a moment in silence, unsure of what to do. Eventually he scooted over, and flung back the covers, gesturing for Sirius to get in. 

“I’m having some serious deja vu,” grumbled Remus sleepily, as Sirius had gleefully thrown an arm across Remus’s torso and rested his head on his shoulder. Of course, there was quite a bit more cuddling than there had been the night before, but Remus just chalked that up to the alcohol. 

“Goodnight,” Sirius had breathed. Remus was glad it was dark and Sirius couldn’t see how badly he’d been blushing. 

In the morning, however, Remus had less romantic thoughts about the situation. He’d woken up with Sirius almost completely splayed out on top of him. Their legs were intertwined (which Remus had tried not to think about), and his arm had been flung across Remus’s face, causing him to barely be able to breathe. 

“Sirius!” he’d muttered, irritated. Sirius had not stirred, so Remus carefully lifted his arm and escaped from underneath. He’d decided to take a shower, since he wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep, and when he returned Remus had found Sirius awake in his bed—in  _ his sweater _ .

Remus wasn’t quite sure if he’d somehow died in the night (perhaps by lack of air from Sirius smothering him), and woken up in some odd version of heaven. 

“Morning, darling,” said Sirius casually. Remus had struggled not to let his jaw drop in shock, and decided that he really  _ had  _ died and gone to heaven. 

“Oh, um, good morning.” Remus' voice was high-pitched and a little nervous. “Why are you wearing my sweater?”

“Thought it was a couple-y thing to do—swap clothes. Besides, I’ve always wanted to steal one of your sweaters, they always look so soft…” 

“You know, I think you two are taking this a little too far. You’re aware you don’t have to sleep together every night, right?” James asked. He has just woken up, and was still under all his covers, his messy hair even messier than usual. “Or swap clothes, for that matter.”

“Sirius was drunk and he wanted to…” Remus explained, his voice trailing off as he got distracted by Sirius again. “Are you reading my divination textbook? You’re not even in that class.”

“Here I am,  _ adorable _ , sitting in your bed in your sweater and all you think about is the book I’m reading? How typical of you, Moony. ”

James shook his head in mock disappointment, and Remus sighed. He had decided that if Sirius was going to wear his clothes, then he would wear something of Sirius’. His eyes had traveled around the room until they landed on his victim—Sirius’ leather jacket.

After a short argument about “not harming his precious jacket” and quite a few threats in the case that Remus  _ did  _ harm the jacket, Remus had gone down to breakfast followed by his friends, wondering vaguely about what people might think of this new development. 

“The softer look suits you, Sirius,” Mary said, back at the breakfast table. Sirius grinned.

“Thanks, Macdonald. I might make this my new style…”

“What? Wearing  _ my  _ clothes?” Remus asked, grabbing the scone Sirius had just put on his plate and taking a bite.

“Yeah I—Moony! That was my scone!” 

“Everyone is staring at us,” muttered Peter, trying to hide behind the newspaper he’d just received from the post. He wasn’t wrong. All around the room, heads were turning to catch proof of the very scandalous rumor that Lupin and Black had disappeared early from the party the night before and had shown up to breakfast in each other's clothes. 

“You’d think there would be more exciting things going on than us dating,” said Remus, attempting to keep his voice casual. “I mean, there is a war on, in case you didn’t know.” He’d spoken loud enough that quite a few people heard, and eyes began to look back down at their breakfasts. Whispers were still circulating, and Remus tried to tune them out. He wasn’t necessarily keen to hear all about what he and Sirius had allegedly done the night before. 

“The girls are only jealous of you, Remus,” Marlene said. Then she added, with a chuckle: “and I suspect some boys are too.” 

Hestia nodded. “Yeah, I heard a group of fifth year Ravenclaws crying about it in the bathroom yesterday. They’re weirdly obsessed with Sirius, honestly…” 

“It’s not  _ that  _ weird. Mary, you were obsessed with me one year, weren’t you?” Sirius asked. Mary laughed, brushing some stray hairs off of her warm brown skin and tucking them behind her ear. 

“Yeah, fifth year.” 

“Oh, yeah, I—” Remus began, before he realized his slip up, and snapped his mouth shut. 

“You what, Moony?” Sirius asked, genuine curiosity laced in his voice. 

“He doesn’t have to answer…” James said, seemingly sensing the direction their conversation was heading. Remus shook his head.

“It’s alright. It’s only, I realized I had a crush on Sirius fifth year too…” he spoke quietly, nearly a whisper. 

“That’s sweet,” Alice said, when Sirius didn’t respond. Mary nodded in agreement. Mary was, of course, their friend, but she had also liked both Sirius and Remus during fifth and sixth year, respectively. Generally, they all had a silent agreement to not speak of it. 

Sirius was going to respond, only he couldn’t seem to find any words. Internally, he was wondering what on earth was going on. Remus clearly hadn’t meant to say that, so did that mean he meant it? Did he really have a crush on him? And since fifth year? Fifth year was a tumultuous year, with the Snape business and all, so it surprised him that  _ that  _ would be the year he developed his crush. Perhaps that was a sign that he’d made it up on the spot in a panic, for the prank?  _ For the prank _ . Sirius could hardly tell the difference between the prank and real life anymore. When Remus held his hand, or brushed his hair off his face, or slept beside him at night, was that for the prank? 

Remus was staring at him, and a rather awkward silence had fallen over the table, so Sirius plastered a grin on his face. 

“You blushed almost every time I looked your way, it was barely a surprise, really.” Sirius said lightly, catching Remus’s eyes. He looked nervous, and they held eye contact for a moment until James cleared his throat and spoke. Remus looked down quickly at his half-finished breakfast.

“Anything good in the paper, Wormtail?” he asked, though he was staring at Sirius.

“Oh, the usual…no one we know has died though, so that’s something, I suppose.” 

“Well, well, well,” said Severus, catching the Marauders as they left breakfast some time later. “Guess the rumours are true then. Pureblood disappointment Black runs off with half-blood, half- _ breed  _ Lupin. Quite the forbidden love story, if you ask me.” 

Snapes friends sniggered, as if this were the funniest thing in the world. Regulus, who was leaning against a banister some steps behind his friends, was the only one not laughing. Sirius was glaring daggers at his brother from his spot beside Remus. 

“Piss off, Snivellus.” Remus said, his hand drifting the wand in his pocket. “You know I can give you detention.” 

“ _ Detention  _ means nothing. Next year we’ll be doing our duty to the Dark Lord, and you, hopefully, will be dead in a ditch somewhere. You three as well—Potter, Black, and Pettigrew. And, if we can arrange it, that mudblood Evans you all hang out with,” said Mulciber, coming to stand beside Snape. Remus thought he could see Snape twitch at the mention of Lily, but he stayed silent. 

At Mulciber’s words, James and Sirius had drawn their wands, while Peter edged himself behind Remus. 

“Guys, let’s just go, they aren’t worth it,” said Remus, attempting to shepherd his friends around the Slytherins and up the stairs. They wouldn’t budge. 

“Yeah, listen to your  _ werewolf _ boyfriend, Black,” sniggered Snape. It was the first time Remus had actually heard Snape recognize his condition out loud, and he froze in shock, turning slowly to look at Snape. 

Before he could he even say a word, however, Sirius had flicked his want and Snape was in the air, dangling by his ankle. 

“Detention  _ tonight _ !” grumbled Sirius, as he and his friends left a very angry Professor McGonagall at the entrance to the Great Hall and made their way up the stairs. “I mean, is she crazy? We’ve got exams  _ tomorrow _ !” 

“You did physically assault a student,” James pointed out. Sirius rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, but it’s Snivellus, Prongs. He hardly counts. Besides, he was verbally assaulting Moony! What was I supposed to do?” 

“Walk away?” Remus suggested. 

“Call him a little piece of shit and  _ then  _ walk away,” James said. Sirius merely sighed, and said nothing. 

They walked in silence for a little longer, Sirius moping the whole way. They stopped by Gryffindor tower to get their bags, but paused in the common room, trying to figure out what to do next. After a short argument over studying or holding a day-long wizard chess tournament, they decided on studying first, chess later.

“ _ Where _ are we studying today? I’m tired of the common room.” Peter said. “I wish we could go outside…” he looked longingly out of the snow-streaked window. 

“The library, I reckon.” Remus said.

“The bottom of the lake?” suggested Sirius hopefully. James hit him gently over the head.

“I second the library.”

Sirius groaned. 

“You know you don’t  _ have  _ to study, right Pads?” James said, “you could take a nap, bother Moony, enchant the books to follow Madam Pince around…I mean, really the options are endless.” 

Sirius perked up slightly. “You know, enchanting the books to follow Madam Pince  _ would  _ be rather funny…” 

“James! Now you’ve gone and given him more ideas!” Remus exclaimed. 

“Come on, don’t you think that would be even a little funny?” Sirius asked, slipping his hand into Remus’s and leaning his head on his shoulder. 

“Well, maybe a  _ little _ ,” said Remus, a smile playing across his lips. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello again ! comment and kudos if you would like! hopefully the next chapter will be up soon :)


	11. banned from the library

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi !

**chapter eleven**

**_sunday afternoon—_ **

“Moony,  _ Moony _ ,” 

“What, Peter?” Remus asked, slumping down in his chair, tearing his eyes away from his Ancient Runes textbook. 

“I was wondering if you had your essay on werewolves—” 

“Are you kidding me?” snorted Sirius, the book he had enchanted to float lazily behind Madam Pince dropping loudly as he broke concentration. She turned sharply, picked up the book, and glanced around suspiciously. 

“You didn’t let me finish,” grumbled Peter, crossing his arms. “I was wondering if you had the essay on werewolves in the Goblin Rebellion of 1036. As far as I’m aware, Remus was not alive in 1036,  _ Sirius _ .” 

“Yeah, it’s right here…” Remus began shuffling through his papers, before giving up and summoning the essay. It flew out from the bottom of the stack and he handed it to Peter. “And you’re right, I was not involved in the Goblin Rebellion of 1036.” He chuckled, and Sirius shrugged.

“Might have been. Sometimes I think you’re too smart to  _ not  _ be some kind of… hot, immortal being.” 

Remus cocked an eyebrow. “I feel like that was a compliment, but it also implies that I killed about a hundred wizards as well as some muggles in the Goblin Rebellion.” 

“Oh, is that what happened?” Sirius asked, leaning on two legs of his chair to read the essay in Peter’s hands.

“You’d probably know if you actually paid attention in Binns’ class,” Remus pointed out.

“You’re the only person  _ ever  _ to pay attention in Binns’ class,” said Sirius, before sighing loudly, and letting his head flop down on the table. “I’m  _ so bored _ . Can we please be finished?” 

They had all arrived at the library after breakfast, and had only left once to go to lunch, before returning (much more reluctantly) about an hour later. Now, as evening light crept its way into the sky, the library began to slowly clear out. 

“You’re just bored because James isn’t here to humor you,” Peter said, eyes never leaving his paper. James had left with Lily some hours earlier. They were studying together, allegedly. Sirius looked, outraged, from Peter to Remus.

“Are you hearing this, Rem?” Sirius asked. Remus nodded gravely.

“Mhm.” 

“ _ Me _ ? Bored because James isn’t here to humor me. How silly is that? I’m perfectly fine without James around. Right, guys? I mean,—”

“Sirius, shush. I’m studying.” 

“Sorry, Moony.” 

They did end up leaving the library not too long after, but only because Sirius was caught levitating books behind Madam Pince again. She was furious, and quite literally chased them out of the library. The three boys had gained a detention apiece. Remus’s was that night, Sirius’s the next, and Peter’s the next (“ _ Detention during exams? She must be out of her mind,”  _ Sirius had bemoaned). 

They were gasping for breath by the time they made it to the Gryffindor common room.

“That woman terrifies me sometimes,” muttered Sirius.

“Well,” began Remus, muttering the password to the Fat Lady as he clutched a stitch in his side, “next time pay more attention and try not to hit her on the head.” 

“I don’t think there’ll  _ be  _ a next time,” said Peter, climbing through the portrait hole. James bounded over to them right away, grin on his face.

“How was studying?” he asked.

“Oh, wonderful. Got myself banned from the library for life!” Sirius exclaimed with a proud grin. He and James high-fived.

“Madam Pince didn’t necessarily say you were banned for life…” said Remus.

“I think she was too angry to form words, which speaks pretty clearly for itself. I’ll just give the library a wide berth for a few weeks, then get her a Christmas present or something.”

“He got us detentions. Three  _ separate  _ detentions.” Peter complained to James. Sirius brushed this aside with a wave of his hand, as if it was really of no importance. 

They settled at a table by the door, where Lily sat scanning her Divination notes. 

“If you’re getting Madam Pince a present, you can’t get her a personalized, signed copy of Hogwarts, a History,” said Lily, putting down her notes and looking up at Sirius.

“Why not?”  
“That’s what I’m getting her. It took me ages to get it all sorted.” 

“You’re getting Madam Pince a Christmas gift?” Peter asked. 

“Her and all the professors. I used to get gifts for my favorites only, but I thought as it’s my last year I should get everyone something.” Lily shrugged, as if everyone did this. 

James looked as if he were going to speak, but the words died before they could make it out of his mouth as Remus stood up quickly. 

“Alright there, Moons?” James asked. 

“Oh, yeah,” he said, slinging his backpack over one shoulder. “Just, erm, remembered something I forgot in the library.” 

“Are you sure that’s safe?” Sirius asked, seemingly genuine. Remus rolled his eyes.

“Yes, Pads, some of us have better reputations with Madam Pince than you.” 

“Well…shout if she tries to murder you or something.” 

“Great, will do.” Then he was gone, back through the portrait hole. 

“What are you getting all the other professors?” Peter asked Lily, looking rather nervous, as though he felt he should have done the same thing. Lily shrugged, nonchalantly.

“Well, I got Dumbledore some Bertie Botts Every-Flavour Beans—” 

“—but only the nice flavors—” James interjected. 

“— _I’ve also_ gotten McGonagall a set of books on Transfiguration I know she hasn’t got because I asked her last week. I’ve gotten books for most of my professors, really, but Slughorn’s gift is the best, I’d say.” 

“She’s gotten him a fish!” James exclaimed, as though he’d been bursting to speak and couldn’t hold it in anymore. Lily rolled her eyes, but said nothing about his outburst. 

“A fish?” Sirius asked. 

“Well it’s rather a complicated piece of magic. It’s a lily that will transform into a fish when he gets it,” she explained.

“Lily was showing me earlier, it’s really quite interesting,” said James, grinning fondly at Lily from across the table. She smiled back, a blush just barely coloring her cheeks. 

“Oh, really? What ever happened to  _ studying _ ?” Sirius teased them. James stuck out his tongue. 

“Ha. We did study, actually. Just not the  _ whole  _ time. Unlike you three academics in the library.” 

“Bold of you to assume I studied at all, Prongs. I mostly just sat around, tormented Madam Pince, and…” 

“Stared lovingly at Moony across the table when he wasn’t looking,” muttered Peter quietly. Sirius rounded on him.

“I did not!”

“Did too!” 

“No!”

“Yes!” 

“James!” 

“What?” 

“Back me up!” exclaimed Sirius.

“Hm, well, I wasn’t there the whole time, so I can’t  _ really  _ say what went on but knowing how you normally act I’m very much inclined to believe Peter on this one.” James grinned at his friend, but Sirius merely scowled back.

“Oh, you two are relentless. You know, he might not want to date me, believe it or not.” 

“I mean, maybe, but who could resist Sirius Black?” 

“I feel like that wasn’t a compliment, Prongsy.” 

“Ugh, Sirius, don’t bring  _ Prongsy  _ back…” 

The conversation turned towards Christmas and ice skating after exams, and was only just getting into Peter’s possible girlfriend when Remus returned, looking rather excited and pleased with himself. 

“And where have you been, mister?” Sirius asked when he came through the portrait hole. Sirius found it odd, watching Remus bound through the door in  _ his  _ leather jacket.

“Library. Told you earlier.” 

Remus walked over to their table, and Peter quickly moved one seat over, so the only available seat was next to Sirius. Sirius flipped him off when Remus’s back was turned, obvious that this was part of some ridiculous plan to force him and Remus together. Peter and James merely exchanged evil, scheming smiles.

“Well, you obviously were not at the library, seeing as you haven’t brought anything back with you, and  _ you  _ said you forgot something at the library.” 

“Merlin, someone’s pushy this evening…” muttered Remus. Really, he’d been in the Owlery, posting an order for Sirius’s Christmas present. He’d only thought of it the day before, and had to hurry to post it so it would arrive in time. All the talk of Christmas presents had reminded him. “If you must know, which you don’t, it has to do with Christmas presents. It was time-sensitive and I thought you’d ask less questions if I told you I was going to the library.” 

“Aw, you know me so well.” Half playing into James and Peter’s game, and half out of simple desire, Sirius scooted his chair the few inches closer to Remus’s, and cuddled up to him. Hands clasped, his head on Remus’s shoulder, Sirius took a moment to soak it all in, to remember what it all felt like before it was gone. 

“Oh, Moony! We forgot to tell you earlier…” said Sirius, slipping his hand into Remus’s. They were walking back from dinner a few hours later, the Marauders leading the way and the other seventh years involved in conversation a few paces behind them. “Peter’s got a  _ girlfriend _ .” 

“Oh, really?” Remus asked, turning to look at the smaller boy.

“No, I haven’t. Not really.” 

“You snogged her! I saw it!” James said. Peter’s eyes widened.

“You  _ saw _ ?” 

“Well, yeah, it wasn’t very discreet kissing her in the middle of the corridor as everyone was leaving the party.” 

“Who’s Peter snogging?” Marlene asked, catching up with them and brushing her long blonde hair over her shoulder. She and Hestia were arm-in-arm, and Mary walked beside them. 

“Caroline Martin. She’s a Slytherin, sixth year,” said Mary. 

Peter groaned. “You saw too?”

“Well, like James said, you didn’t pick the best snogging location. Not to mention I saw you two flirting  _ all night _ .” 

“And she’s a Slytherin?” Sirius wrinkled his nose. “Don’t tell me you’re dating one of my relatives, Wormy.”

“She’s a half-blood, so probably not.” Peter sighed, clearly realizing he had little choice in the direction of their conversation. 

“Oh.” Sirius paused. “That’s alright then. When can we meet her?”

“Not yet! We’ve only just started going out…” said Peter, exasperated. 

“Ha! So you admit you’re dating?” James exclaimed. 

“Oh, fine, whatever.”

There was a lull in the conversation, that was eventually broken when James looked down at his watch, then over to Sirius and Remus. 

“Aren’t you guys supposed to be in detention? It’s five minutes to eight.”

“Shit! Fuck! Moony we’re late!” 

“Jesus, Sirius, it’s just a detention, we still have five minutes anyway,” Remus said, letting himself get pulled down the hallway by Sirius. He sent a goodbye wave behind his shoulder to his friends. The last thing they heard before Remus and Sirius turned the corner was:

“Aw, Moony, I love when I catch you off guard and you start swearing like a Muggle…” 

And the following grumble from Remus: “Fuck off.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> first thought i should say that peter's girlfriend is a completely made up character, and isn't in canon! i don't think i have anything else to say abt this chapter lol. i hope you liked it :) comment and kudos if you want! <3


	12. maybe with a few more words

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! this is a pretty long chapter today! also, i'm currently working on a spotify playlist for this fic. i'll probably give the link in the next chapter if i get more songs on there, but it's still a work in progress right now haha

**chapter twelve**

**_sunday night—_ ** __

Sirius and Remus made it to McGonagall’s office with one minute to spare. They met her outside of her office, where she looked rather disapprovingly down her glasses at them. 

“We are  _ not  _ late,” burst Sirius, before McGonagall could even say a word. He raised an arm—the one holding the expensive-looking watch he’d gotten from the Potter’s on his seventeenth birthday—and said, “it’s one minute to eight.” 

“I am aware of the time, Mr. Black. But I thank you for being punctual.” 

She explained to them that they would be doing their detention with Slughorn, and that they weren’t allowed to use magic, but said little else. After the trek to the dungeons, she left them at Slughorn’s door and said she’d be back at ten later that evening. 

“McGonagall seemed glad to be rid of us…” said Remus.

“Ah, she’ll miss us next year,” Sirius said, grinning at Remus. Remus returned the smile, but it seemed almost forced, and Sirius wondered if he was simply tired from all the studying and walking or if something else was bothering him. There wasn’t even time to ask, however, because the door swung open, and Slughorn greeted them with a wide grin on his face. 

“Boys, boys! Do come in,” he ushered them through the door, then closed it behind them. Sirius glanced around the room and saw a half-empty bottle of Firewhisky next to an open bag of candied pineapple. Slughorn himself was in a gaudy green velvet suit as he bustled around the room. 

Sirius nudged Remus in the side. “Think he’s going on a date?” he whispered. Remus chuckled, and Sirius was thrilled to see genuine joy flit across his features. 

“Right.” Slughorn turned to them, and their bubble popped. “I asked McGonagall if I could take you boys for detention this evening because, well, I’ve got a bit of a favor to ask, and I figured my job would be better than others you might be forced to do. I need my room tidied up for exams in the morning, but tonight is the annual Slug Club Christmas Party…” 

“Oh, how could we forget!” Sirius interrupted with a chuckle, “James is going to that.” 

“That’s right! He nearly had a meltdown when Lily asked him,” snorted Remus. “Said he didn’t have the right dress robes and would need to order more  _ right away.  _ As if the party wasn’t for another month.”

“Ah, Ms. Evans is bringing Potter?” Slughorn asked, almost disappointed. Sirius nodded.

“Yeah, I’m sure you think he’s a bit of a prick, and he’s not in your special little Slug Club, but he  _ is  _ pureblood, and you seem to have a thing for them, don’t you? My little brother, Severus…” 

Slughorn cleared his throat loudly, and looked around the room anxiously. “Um, yes, I’m sure it’ll all be fine. Anyways, the party is tonight, so I just need you two to clean up in here, and don’t tell McGonagall I’ve left you alone. Of course, she knows about the party, but I’ve told her I’d have someone watch you. Hagrid said he’d cover for me, but he couldn’t come because of ‘business in town’, whatever that means…” 

“So, if McGonagall comes knocking before ten, we’ll just tell her Hagrid was here but he’s nipped to the loo?” Sirius asked.

“Erm, yes, something like that. I really best be off! I’ve got guests arriving any moment…” Slughorn bustled out of the room, leaving Sirius and Remus standing alone in a mess of dirty cauldrons, disorganized potions ingredients, and stacks of books littered around their feet. 

“What a weirdo,” said Remus, as the door snapped shut.

“ _ Honestly _ . I mean, he’s got a whole club for cool people and neither of us are in it? That’s practically a crime, we’re the coolest people I know.”

“It doesn’t get much cooler than a werewolf and an illegal animagus…” Remus said absently, looking around at the room they had to clean. “Where should we start?” 

“I reckon we just magically clean it up then go and sneak into the party and steal some fancy snacks.” Sirius said, getting out his wand and pointing it at the nearest cauldron. Remus stepped in front of him. 

“McGonagall said we weren’t allowed to use magic, remember? Also, is it really worth sneaking into the party just for the snacks?” 

“ _ Moony _ , are you kidding me? He’s sure to have all the best rich people snacks. I mean, they’re all in these tiny portions and they’re all a little weird and you  _ think  _ it’ll be disgusting but then…” he paused for emphasis, then continued. “When I went to Narcissa and Lucius’s wedding two summers ago I had, obviously, a miserable time, but the little snacks they’d put out? Amazing.” 

“You are so  _ posh _ , Black.” Remus chuckled.

“I’m offended. But can we please get snacks?” 

Sirius locked eyes with Remus, and the other boy gave in. “Fine. You can put the books away with magic, then organize the potion ingredients cupboard, and I’ll clean the cauldrons. Then, because the snacks mean so much to you, we can go sneak into the Christmas party.”

This plan seemed to work, and the boys got to work quickly. The books were quickly shut away into the cupboard, thanks to Sirius, which made the rest of the mess look much more manageable. Remus went to one side of the room, where dirty cauldrons sat in a pile by the sink, with some radiating out onto nearby tables, and Sirius went to the otherside, where the potion ingredients sat jumbled on the shelves, no rhyme or reason to their order. 

“How did he even let it get like this?” Remus asked, pulling a cauldron down into the sink with a grunt, and beginning to scrub it with a sponge Slughorn had left them. 

“Dunno. He isn’t the cleanest, I’d say. Probably too wrapped up in his party plans to care much,” said Sirius with a chuckle, pulling down a small bottle filled with bright green objects that looked like little sticks. Remus hummed in response, but Sirius could tell he had something to say. “Whatcha thinking about?” 

“Well, I suppose I was just wondering why you  _ aren’t  _ in the Slug Club. I mean, your brother is, I reckon most of your family has been, doesn’t he want you for his collection?” 

“He did ask me, right when I arrived at Hogwarts. He said that I was the missing piece to ‘complete his set’. That turned me off immediately, obviously. I’m nothing like my family anyway, he wouldn’t  _ really _ want me there. I think he realized that, in the end,” said Sirius thoughtfully, placing the green sticks on one of the shelves. Remus had stopped scrubbing, and Sirius saw that he had turned to look at him. 

“Yeah, that makes sense. It’s not really your scene anyway, is it?” 

Sirius grinned. “Nah. My scene is more detention with you, I’d say.”

“How sweet of you,” Remus said with a small smile and a roll of his eyes. 

About half an hour later, Sirius had almost finished the potion ingredients cabinet. He circled the classroom once, picking up any stray bottles, and then put them into their correct place in the cabinet. 

“Last cauldron!” Remus said joyfully, placing the cauldron down into the sink.

“I’ve just finished my cabinet. Shall I sweep up before we go?” 

“Yeah, I reckon.” Remus turned, then caught sight of the ingredients cabinet. “Sirius, why are the ingredients organized by color?” 

“ _ Well _ , I thought alphabetical was rather boring, and it certainly doesn’t look organized, so I devised a whole new system. See, now each color of ingredient has its own shelf, and  _ in  _ that shelf, they’re organized alphabetically and also grouped into what kind of ingredient they are. See, on this shelf, the green shelf, we’ve got some animal products, some more nature-y things like leaves, some weird things I couldn’t recognize…” 

Remus laughed. “There’s a ‘things you couldn’t recognize’ section?”

“Yup. Like it?” 

“Oh yeah. I mean, it’s definitely organized now. Slughorn certainly got what he asked for.” 

They finished cleaning the room about an hour before McGonagall said she’d collect them. Eventually, after some convincing on Sirius’s part, he and Remus were making their way back up to the main part of the castle, with the first stop being McGonagall’s room.

“Professor?” Sirius said sweetly, peeking his head around the door of her office. Remus was stood a few steps back, arms crossed. He was mostly interested in seeing what Sirius had come up with to get them out of their detention. 

“Mr. Black? Did I not leave you at Professor Slughorn’s door an hour ago?” 

“Oh, no, you did. It’s only…Professor Slughorn had to leave early to go to his party, and he left Hagrid with us. Before he left, he said we could join the party if we finished early. And we  _ did  _ finish early. Hagrid said we should go, Professor Slughorn seemed like he  _ really  _ wanted us to go. It was an order, almost. You know how he can get sometimes…” Sirius trailed off, sensing his story was getting weaker the most he continued. Remus, though he was stifling his laughter, thought he wasn’t doing half bad. 

“And if I go see Hagrid right now…” began McGonagall. Sirius shot Remus a panicked look. In response, Remus joined him in the doorway. 

“Hagrid had to hurry off somewhere…said he had urgent business. He probably just wanted us out of his hair, to be honest—” 

Sirius made a quiet comment about how  _ much  _ hair Hagrid had and Remus tried to discreetly step on his foot. 

“—and now, well, we haven’t even got a teacher to watch us…”

“It’s nearly Christmas…” Sirius added, thinking perhaps that this would help their case. 

Somehow, McGonagall did give in, and not even five minutes later the boys found themselves strolling down a long empty corridor. 

“We’re  _ brilliant _ ,” Sirius said. 

“I mean, that was hardly some of our best work. And I did kinda throw Hagrid under the bus,” said Remus. Sirius chuckled, and linked arms with Remus. 

“Well then, what’s our plan?”  
“Our plan?”

“ _ Our plan  _ for sneaking into the party. You always come up with the best plans,” said Sirius casually. 

“Oh, well…” 

“Snuffles? Snuffles!” Remus burst through the door of Professor Slughorn’s rooms. Slughorn himself stood nearby, and regarded Remus with eyes slightly squinted, as if he might be dreaming. 

“Lupin?” he asked. “I thought you were cleaning my classroom? Where is Black? Who is Snuffles…is that…?” Remus followed his eyes until he saw Sirius, in dog form, circling one of the long food tables. 

“Sorry, sir,” said Remus, suddenly thinking this idea was rather silly, “we finished cleaning your office, and McGonagall let us off. Snuffles is a stray, I think he followed Hagrid back from the village.” 

“Ah. And how did he get…here?”

Remus looked from Slughorn to Sirius, then tried quickly to find James in the crowd, with no luck. “I’m not sure, honestly. Must have…snuck in. Sorry, got to go,” Remus muttered, ducking past Slughorn and making a beeline for Sirius. 

Sirius wagged his tail and panted happily as Remus approached. 

“ _ You _ ,” Remus leaned down and poked him on the nose, “are ridiculous. I hope you enjoy your snacks. Do you know where James is?” 

Sirius made a little whimpering noise. “Maybe with a few more words?” Remus asked. For this, Sirius gave Remus the best glare he could in the body of a dog, and proceeded to walk away into the crowd. Before he lost sight of him, Remus grabbed a plate and piled it with two of everything on the table. 

When he found him again, Sirius was being pet by Lily, James watching the whole thing, thoroughly amused. 

“So…how did detention lead to this?” James asked, as Remus approached. 

“Sirius wanted the little snacks,” he responded, gesturing to the plate in his hands. 

“Ah, and you couldn’t say no, of course.” 

Remus shot him a weak glare. “I  _ can  _ say no to him. Maybe I just wanted some snacks too…” 

“Sure, sure. What do you think of Snuffles, Lils?” 

“Hm, well, he talks much less than human Sirius, which is an improvement.” Sirius whined at this, and nipped at Lily’s hand before settling himself in between James and Remus. 

“Ignore him,” said Remus. “Want a macaroon?” 

“You gave her a macaroon? After she was  _ rude  _ to me?” Sirius crossed his arms. They had been kicked out of the party by Slughorn, and were walking through the deserted corridors, interrupting the heavy, shadowy silence with their laughter and footsteps. 

“Oh, so sorry _ ,  _ your highness. Would you like me to go back and ask her to regurgitate it for you?” Remus laughed as Sirius shoved him. 

“Ew, Remus!” 

“Here, have this one. I got two.” 

“But that’s yours,” said Sirius, eyeing the macaroon on the plate in front of him. They’d already eaten half the snacks. 

“Sirius, take the bloody macaroon. I could literally care less.” Remus rolled his eyes.

“Oh, alright.” They quieted as Sirius nibbled on his macaroon. The only sound was the slight echo of their shoes on the stone floors. “Ooo, let’s go in here! We can finish our snacks without Peter stealing them.” Sirius pointed towards one of tapestries that lined the walls. It was one of their older hiding spots—a deep window ledge, forgotten at some point in the last few hundred years and covered over. 

They had to hop to pull themselves up, but eventually found themselves sitting across from each other in the narrow space, plate of food balanced on their knees. Outside the window Sirius could just see the snow-capped roofs of Hogsmeade village.

“This is a little smaller than it was when we were twelve,” said Remus, knees pulled up close to his chest. 

“What is this?” Sirius asked, tearing his eyes away from the window in search of his next snack. 

“Hm?” 

“This. Looks like…” Sirius had a little bundle of something in his hand. 

“Oh, I think that’s candied seaweed.” 

“Seaweed isn’t usually such a…vibrant blue.” 

“Maybe don’t eat that one. Although, I thought you  _ liked  _ the weird rich people snacks.” 

Sirius stuck out his tongue at him then nibbled the edge of the seaweed-thing. 

“Blegh. Correction. I like  _ most  _ rich people snacks.” Sirius opted instead for a simple cookie. He watched as Remus’s eyes flicked out towards the Forbidden Forest, and wondered, for the second time that night, what he was thinking about. “Rem, got something on your mind?” 

“Ah, you know me, always having thoughts.” 

“Hm, maybe explain them with a few more words?”

This made Remus smile, and he rolled his eyes over to meet Sirius’s.

“You can’t quote  _ me _ to  _ me _ .” 

Sirius shrugged. “I can if I’d like.”

“Anything else you’d like to do? Have another tiny sandwich, terrorize some Slytherins, sneak into another party…” Sirius, despite the wild beating of his heart, met Remus’s calm gaze. 

“I think you’re trying to change the subject.”

“Nope.” 

“Alright then. I’d quite like to kiss you, if you don’t mind.” 

Sirius could tell that whatever Remus was expecting, it was not this. Sirius himself was almost a little surprised the words had come out of his mouth. He watched Remus’s eyes widen, and his jaw dropped just barely, and the apology was almost out of Sirius’s mouth when Remus snapped his mouth shut, cleared his throat, and said, with a small smile on his lips: “Go on, then.”

They were already so close, there wasn’t much more room before they met in the middle, their empty plate upturned beside them. 

“Twelve-year-old us would think this is so weird…” muttered Sirius, thinking of Remus’s comment from earlier. 

“I quite think this would awaken something in twelve-year-old me…” said Remus, smiling against Sirius. Sirius chuckled.

“Shut up, Lupin.” 

“ _ You  _ shut up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you enjoyed the chapter! it was a big one lol. comment and kudos if you would like! <3


	13. the first inanimate object to fall in love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy halloween! in honor of the (sad) day, here is a chapter with minimal peter and happy/living james and lily!  
> also, i have been working on the playlist for this fic, but i want to work a little more on it before giving out the link. 
> 
> thank you for 2k hits !!

**chapter thirteen**

**_monday morning—_ **

There was something wrong between Sirius and Remus, Marlene was sure. 

She hadn’t seen them since the night before, when they’d left for detention. After that, she’d spent a fun evening helping Lily and Alice get ready for Slughorn’s party with Mary and Hestia. After Lily, Alice, and James left, Peter had snuck out to see Caroline, and Frank had gone to the final herbology club meeting before break. While they waited for their friends to return, the remaining seventh years had decided to play a game of Wizard’s Chess in front of the fire. Hestia had opted out to do some last minute studying, but would occasionally look over and mouth Marlene’s next move over Mary’s shoulder. Hestia was always better at chess than her girlfriend. 

Marlene must have been up in their dormitory when Remus and Sirius returned, because she most certainly had not seen them again until they were sitting down for breakfast. Marlene watched as Sirius tried to non-verbally get Remus to sit next to him, only for Remus to just barely shake his head and sit next to Lily, at least three people down the table from Sirius.

Hestia scooted closer to Marlene, until their arms were pressed against each other and their knees knocked together under the table. 

“That’s weird, don’t you think?” she whispered. Marlene, having to take a moment to shake off her intoxicating perfume and presence, took a few seconds to respond. 

“Mm, yeah,” she said. “Think they had a row?” 

“Maybe. Do you think Lily would know?” 

“Ask her,” Marlene whispered back. Immediately, she wished she’d suggested something else, because Hestia pulled away from her and took all her warmth with her, the ghost of her floral perfume lingering in the air. 

Marlene watched as Hestia, tongue just barely poking out between her teeth in concentration, aimed a gentle kick under the table in Lily’s direction. It worked, and Lily swung her head over to look at them. Hestia cocked one eyebrow and tried to indiscreetly jab her head in Remus’s general direction. Lily looked back at her, confused, and Hestia sighed. She tried another vigorous jab of her head, but it didn’t work. Marlene chuckled. 

Mary, who was sitting on the other side of Marlene, leaned closer to her. “What the hell is she on?” she whispered.

“She’s trying to figure out what’s wrong with Sirius and Remus,” Marlene whispered back. 

“Oh.” There was a pause, then Mary looked across the table at Sirius, who was almost opposite her. “Oi, Black. What’s up with you and Lupin?” 

“What’s up?” Sirius repeated. Marlene watched as he sent a glance down the table at Remus, but the other boy was heavily absorbed in his morning toast.

“Well, you aren’t obnoxiously flirting, so something’s got to be up.”

“ _ I  _ was thinking the same thing…” said Peter quietly. Sirius glared at him, and Peter seemed to wither in his gaze.

“Ask Remus, if you’d really like to know.” Sirius said, stabbing at his sausage haphazardly.

Remus was, at that moment, wishing he was the melting pad of butter on his toast.  _ Imagine,  _ he thought bitterly,  _ I could just melt and be gone forever. _ Surely, death by melting on toast was preferable to most other options. If he were a pad of butter, he wondered what he might think about. Certainly not stupid boys. Though, knowing him, he’d probably end up being the first inanimate object to fall in love—probably with Sirius Black. What a  _ nightmare. _

“Remus doesn’t have to say anything,” chided Lily gently. Remus, though still watching the butter pool on his plate, knew she was speaking to Mary, who’s eyes he could feel practically boring into his head. 

“Oh, Remus, I’m going to do your Myrtle prank today,” James said, trying to steer the conversation into happier territory. 

“When?” asked Sirius. Remus didn’t look at him—he was nervous that he might look back, and then Remus wasn’t sure what he would do with that. Death by eye contact with Sirius was certainly high on Remus’s “Ways I Do  _ Not _ Want to Die” list (It wasn’t a real list, but Remus was heavily considering creating it as the morning wore on). 

“Probably after lunch, when we have off during the arithmancy exam,” James sipped on his pumpkin juice, “you could all come with me!” 

“I’m pretty sure your dare was that  _ you _ had to convince her. All on your own.” Remus pointed out, looking at James across the table. 

“Never thought you’d give up a chance to watch me make a fool of myself,” James said, grinning. Remus felt his lips quirk up into a small smile, but his momentary good mood was squashed as soon as Sirius opened his mouth. 

“I’m pretty sure Moony is only saying that because he doesn’t want to spend time with  _ me _ ,” said Sirius drily. For the first real time since they were holed up together on that window ledge, Remus met Sirius’s eyes. He could see his anger reflected back in the cloudy blue-gray, and he forced himself to look away again.

Putting his glass down a little harder than necessary, Remus looked over at Lily. “Walk with me? We can get to Divination a little early.” 

“Oh. Alright. Coming, Hest?” Hestia, who was also in their Divination class, nodded. Remus looked intently at his shoes while she and her girlfriend kissed goodbye, then while Lily kissed James goodbye. Remus rather felt like the entire world was mocking him, and was immensely relieved when the kissing was over and they were able to leave the hall. 

“Mate, what’s going on?” James asked, as soon as Remus was gone. Sirius grimaced.

“As if I fucking know,” he sighed. He knew practically everyone could hear him, and didn’t really want to have this conversation in front of half of Gryffindor. “S’pose I said something.” Sirius said eventually, with a shrug.

“Well, did you say something?” James asked, prodding. Sirius rolled his eyes.

“I’m  _ always  _ saying things, Prongs. I can’t remember every word that comes out of my mouth.” 

“You could choose them a little more carefully, though.” Mary said lightly. Sirius knew she was teasing him, but he wasn’t really in the mood.

“Sweet of you, Mary,” he responded eventually, drily. 

“Aw, Sirius, you know I was just kidding!”

“Yeah,” he sighed again, then fiddled with his fork.

“I just don’t really get it,” mused Marlene, mind still on Remus’s mysterious silence. 

“That makes two of us,” Sirius put down his fork. 

“Have you tried talking to him?” James asked.

“Have you talked to him yet?” Lily asked. They were not the first to arrive for the divination exam, and a group of Hufflepuffs sat clustered around the ladder to the trapdoor, muttering anxiously about tea leaves. Remus had dragged Lily and Hestia down the hall so they wouldn’t be overheard, and explained his predicament. He’d made them swear not to tell a single person about the prank, the crush, or the kissing. He knew they wouldn’t; it was more for his own sanity. 

“Well, no. I haven’t had much time, really,” muttered Remus, arms wrapped around his legs and chin resting on his knees. 

“Between the making out and—” 

“—yes, thank you, Hestia.” Remus interrupted her. “I remember the evening pretty well.” 

“Just talk to him after this,” said Hestia, gently. “It’d be better to talk now then wait forever. Besides, Sirius is going to get  _ so annoying  _ if you wait and then you guys have some big, angsty fall-out.” 

“You’re so wise, Miss Jones,” Remus said, a smile just barely gracing his lips. He took a moment to stretch out his legs on the stone floor, wincing as one of his knees made a rather menacing cracking noise.

“Remember when he and Mary got together last year for like, maybe two weeks, and then they had that fight and he got drunk and sang Dreams by Fleetwood Mac over and over again in the common room?” Lily asked him. Remus couldn’t help but chuckle at the memory.

“Yeah, and then when you finally told him to _shut the fuck up_ , he switched over to Somebody to Love by Queen?” Hestia asked.   
Remus, grinning, rolled his eyes. “You guys just want me to make up with Sirius so you don’t have to hear him sing.” 

“We just care about you.” Lily said promptly. 

“And our sanity,” added Hestia.

Breakfast was over, and students flooded the halls. Soon, there were little groups sitting all around the Divination classroom. Remus barely recognized what was happening, as he’d slipped back into his thoughts. Kissing Sirius, running off, ignoring him at breakfast… 

He was glad when Hestia broke the silence. It was a nice distraction, and he was able to tune in and out of their conversation as he pleased, eyes mostly plastered on his hands clasped on his lap. That is, until he remembered Sirius holding his hands that first night they’d shared a bed. He looked away and tried to engage in the conversation. 

“...that’s the last time I’m letting Marlene cut my hair. I mean, honestly, it was so uneven. And the layers. Merlin.” Hestia was saying, a fond smile on her face.

“Couldn’t she have used some kind of hair-cutting charm? They’re easy enough,” said Lily, Divination textbook open on her lap.

“She wanted to try it the ‘muggle way’. Perhaps she can practice on you next, Lils.” 

Lily laughed, but her response was cut off as Professor Nitt poked her head through the trapdoor. She waited until there was complete silence, then, in her most mysterious voice, she called up the first person. 

Nitt always started at the end of the alphabet, though no one really knew why, so the crowd had diminished somewhat by the time Remus was called up for (thankfully) his final Divination midterm for the rest of his life. 

“What a  _ relief _ ,” sighed Hestia, as they were finally all finished. 

“Well, we’ve still got every other exam, not to mention our Newts at the end of the year,” Remus pointed out. They were walking back to the Common Room, where they’d take a break before their next exam. 

“Well, at least we’re one down!” 

“Ever the optimist…” 

“What did she say during your exam, Remus? She told me at the end she thought my earrings were blocking her inner eye,” Hestia reached up to touch one of her earrings. They were big, dangling yellow hoops. “I mean, what bullshit! What does that even  _ mean _ ?” 

Remus snorted. “She kept telling me she saw the Grimm in my future. She saw it in the tea leaves, the crystal ball, my palm. I think she was just disappointed I haven’t had any tragic accident since last class.” 

Hestia laughed, but Lily merely gave Remus a sideways look. “The Grimm?” she asked. Remus had forgotten that she knew about the animagi thing. He chuckled.

“Yeah. S’pose we’ll see soon enough if she was right.” 

Hestia was looking between them, confused. “I hope not…” she began, “I’d be quite sad if you were killed by the Grimm. I’d probably fail my Newts, too.” 

Remus smiled. “At least I’ll be missed.”

They talked about the various predictions they made up for the rest of the walk. Remus had nearly forgotten about the Sirius situation by the time they made it to the portrait hole, all three laughing loudly. 

“—I didn’t know!” Lily exclaimed, trying (and failing) to keep the grin off her face. “I thought it meant she’d live a long time or…something!”

“You said,” Hestia gasped between laughs, “that she was going to die  _ tomorrow _ ? And from a boat accident, no less. I reckon she’ll be avoiding the lake for a few days.” 

“I suppose she’s deserved it. I’d be dead a million times over if even half of what she says to me is true…” said Remus. He was grinning broadly, but it flickered as when he recognized the figure sitting by the portrait hole. “Sirius?” 

Sirius looked up, taking a cigarette out from between his teeth. “Remus.” 

“What are you doing out here?” Hestia asked, looking up and down the hallway as if there might be someone hiding behind the suits of armor. 

“Prongs said I couldn’t smoke in the Common Room, the prick,” Sirius said gruffly, though his smile was fond. His eyes flicked up, and met Remus’s. They held eye contact for a moment, until Lily cleared her throat. 

“Right, well, Hestia, coming in? You can quiz me on potions.”

“You don’t need help on  _ potions _ ,” Hestia said with a snort. 

“Oh, just come on,” Lily grabbed her hand and pulled her through the hole. Then it was just Remus and Sirius. 

“Sit?” 

Remus sat, and took the cigarette out of Sirius’s hand. They smoked in silence. 

“Are you mad at me?” Remus asked, eventually. Sirius looked sideways at him, then snapped his fingers. The cigarette disappeared in a puff of magic. “Hey, I wasn’t finished with that…” 

“Sorry,” Sirius smiled, and Remus couldn’t help but smile back just a little. “And no, I’m not mad at you.” 

“Are you sure?”

“Not really.” 

“Not really?” Remus tried not to linger on Sirius’s eyes for too long, and tried focussing on a spot just over his shoulder, chewing nervously on his lip. 

“I suppose I’m mostly just confused—” 

“Well, how do you think I feel?” Remus interrupted. Sirius frowned. 

“I don’t know, do I! Since you just snogged me and ran off,” he snapped. Remus crossed his arms, rather childishly, and met Sirius’s fierce eyes. They were brighter than they had been at breakfast—sharper and more blue. 

“I didn’t just…snog you and run off!” objected Remus. Sirius rolled his eyes.

“Well, I’m not sure what else you’d call it. You practically ran out, talking about…curfew or whatever. As if you care about  _ curfew _ ! Are you embarrassed by me? Or is it just too much being queer  _ and  _ a werewolf? Would your parents be disappointed?” he snapped.

Remus wasn’t sure why their conversation had taken such a turn, and he regarded Sirius cooly for a few minutes before standing up. “I said I’d lend Peter one of my old potions papers. I should probably go help him out.” 

“So that’s it?” Sirius was frowning at him again, but Remus merely shrugged, muttering the password to the Fat Lady. He didn’t want to meet Sirius’s eyes. 

Remus felt rather silly. In his head, he figured Sirius would just automatically understand him, as if he could read his mind, and they’d have a nice conversation and maybe (just maybe) kiss. He knew he  _ should _ push aside the irritation he felt, go back, and explain everything, but he wasn’t in the mood. He didn’t even bother responding to Sirius as he hurried through the portrait hole. 

Sirius watched Remus disappear, and sat in stunned silence for a moment. He was already regretting what he’d said. He didn’t even mean it really, the thing about being a queer werewolf. And as if he could comment on  _ disappointing parents _ . That was practically Sirius’s full-time job. Sirius gathered his things in his bag and got up, now determined to find Remus and apologize.

“I don’t think he wants to talk to you, dear,” the Fat Lady was checking her hair in a mirror, running her fingers through it and making sure the pins were in the correct place. 

Sirius crossed his arms. “ _ Bertie Botts Every-Flavour Beans _ .” He recited the password, but she still didn’t open the door. 

“Really, I’m quite experienced in—” 

“—just open the door!” Sirius snapped. 

She sighed. “Well, it’s your life.” 

Inside, Sirius quickly glanced around the half-empty room. He saw Remus in a quiet corner with Peter, both pouring over an essay on the table. James and Lily were also at their table, giggling about something. Sirius smiled as he watched Remus throw a wadded up piece of paper at James’s head, in an attempt to shut him up. 

He was quickly losing confidence. The more he looked at Remus, the less Sirius was sure of his plan. Perhaps he’d just wait until after lunch, during their free block. With a sigh, Sirius wandered over to Mary, who was sprawled out on the rug by the fire painting her nails. 

“Hey,” he said glumly, plopping down next to her.

“Merlin, who died?” she teased him, glancing up at him with her dark, smiling eyes. 

“My love life,” he sighed.

“Aw, it can’t be that bad.” 

“Well, we tried to talk about our  _ feelings  _ and immediately started bickering. Then he left.” 

“You’ll work it out. You always do,” said Mary. She was always so sure about things. Sirius couldn’t help but give her a small smile. 

“Thanks, Mary.” He looked down at one of the small bottles she’d set out on the floor. It was a dark red nail polish that proudly stated it was ‘ _ every Witch’s favourite no chip, instant drying polish! _ ’. “Will you paint my nails?”  __

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi :) i hope you enjoyed this chapter. comment/kudos if you'd like <3


	14. voldemort loves a christmas party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! sorry if this chapter seems a little all over the place and not super well written. idk why but i kinda struggled writing it. the next one will be better hopefully lol
> 
> on a more exciting note, i'm going to put the link to the spotify playlist i've created in the summary for this fic! i'll be editing it and adding more songs and stuff but i felt it was good enough to share at this point! it's mostly 70s music, bc i wanted to keep it somewhat time-accurate, but i have deviated somewhat from that so there's modern stuff on there as well :) enjoy !!
> 
> (also, less exciting, but content warning for a somewhat vague mention of physical abuse)

**chapter fourteen**

_ monday afternoon—  _

Remus managed to avoid Sirius until lunchtime. It had been easy, at first. 

Their potions exam gave Remus a blissful two hours where he knew no one could talk to him. Even better, they weren’t brewing Amortentia like James had said. If they had, his was sure to smell like parchment, fresh linen,  _ coconut _ . He wasn’t sure he could take much of that, especially considering the fact that he also had to concentrate while Sirius was sitting two tables over with  _ painted nails _ —a new look that suited him far too much. 

Lunch had been a little harder to maneuver. He’d managed to squeeze himself in between Lily and Mary, a few seats down from Sirius. He’d enjoyed the easy conversation about Lily’s sister and her boyfriend—Vernon—and their plans to marry. Remus, though hungry, found he had so much pent up nervous energy he could hardly do more than pick at some fruit he’d scooped on his plate. 

“Well, my mother was furious when she found out. She thought that Petunia  _ must  _ be pregnant. It was all ‘ _ your father and I had known each other for years before we got married’  _ and ‘ _ How will Vernon provide for your child? _ ’” Lily calmly sipped her pumpkin juice. “Petunia wasn’t pregnant obviously, but we did learn that Vernon will be getting a very respectable job at  _ Grunnings _ .” 

Mary snorted. “God, sounds wonderful.”

“Oh it is,” Lily grinned. “It seemed to work on my father though. He hardly shuts up about Vernon now.” She paused. “Remus, you’re not eating hardly enough food. Here have some of my—” 

“—I’m alright, thanks Lils.” Remus smiled half-heartedly at her. She did not want to take no as an answer, but could say nothing more as it was then that the owl arrived. 

It was a large, impressive owl with a bright red envelope in its beak, and was clearly meant to make a scene—considering the owls usually arrived at breakfast, and not the middle of lunch. The school seemed to quiet as it watched, entranced, as the animal flew down the Gryffindor table and landed right in front of Sirius Black, dropping the Howler in his lap and immediately picking at some bread on his plate. 

“Oh,  _ fuck _ .” Remus heard Sirius mutter, picking up the smoking letter with one hand and shooing the owl away with the other.

“Is it from your mum?” James asked, eyes wide, remembering the letter Sirius has sent his cousin just days before. Sirius nodded and got up, stumbling as he tried to make his way out of the great hall before the letter exploded. He made it—just barely. The doors snapped shut just as the angry voice of Walburga Black burst from the envelope. 

Remus caught James’s eyes across the table. “Should we—?”

James shook his head. “Nah, I reckon we let her finish…” 

“—A DISGRACE TO THE NOBL—” 

“Right! Well, um, I think I failed my potions midterm.” James said after clearing his throat loudly, in an attempt to distract from the yelling outside. Conversations were beginning to pick up again as friends went back to laughing and eating, but Remus saw Regulus at the Slytherin table staring, wide-eyed, at the closed doors of the Great Hall. His face was pale and his plate was full of food he’d obviously just been pushing around. 

“—HOW DARE YOU—”

“I can’t believe Lily didn’t let you cheat off of her,” said Remus, forcing a smile and glancing away from Regulus.

“—YOUR COUSIN—” 

“Oh, she’d  _ never _ ,” James was looking around the room, and threw a bread roll at a sixth year down the table who was clearly trying to hear the Howler over the growing din of the other students. “ _ Oi _ , eat your lunch,” he called to him, practically growling. The boy looked down at his plate, cheeks tinted pink. 

“—YOUR DUTY AS A—”

“Do you think she’ll make him go home for Christmas?” Peter asked, worrying the hem of his robes.

“—IMPORTANT GUESTS—”

“She’ll have to get through us three, first,” said James, a protective glint in his eyes. Remus nodded vigorously. 

“—SCUM—” 

“Oh, right, obviously!” said Peter, swallowing hard. 

“—NEVER SPEAK TO—” 

“I’m getting the feeling she doesn’t want him home for Christmas…” said Remus in a whisper. 

“—AGAIN.” 

Peter looked up from his plate, eyes wide. “She’s done. Should we go?”

The three boys quickly got up and left the hall, trying to slip discreetly through the door. Sirius was there, trying to brush the ash from the exploded letter off his robes. 

“Forgot these burst into flames. Merlin, what a mess…” Sirius muttered. He looked up at his hovering friends then, giving them a small smile that didn’t meet his eyes. “I’m fine, really.” 

“Are you sure?” Remus asked—an echo of a similar conversation they’d had just hours earlier. 

“Well, I was hoping not to get ash all over my robes this afternoon but other than that I suppose I’m alright,” Sirius said lightly. 

“She was saying some awful things…” Peter said. Sirius shrugged in response.

“She’s  _ always  _ saying awful things. It’s nothing new. In fact, I’d say it's even better over Howler because she can only  _ say  _ things and she can’t—well, she can’t, um…” his sentence fizzled out, and Remus stepped closer to him, until the backs of their hands brushed against each other. Sirius silently slipped his hand into Remus’s. 

“I think we should tell Dumbledore,” said James, pushing his glasses up his nose and messing his hair up—a clear indicator that he was entering, what the Marauders called, Thinking Mode. 

Sirius rolled his eyes. “Tell him what? That my mummy got mad at me because I told my cousin to fuck off?” 

“ _ No _ , you heard her…she said…she said there’d be important guests…” 

“Like Voldemort? At the Christmas party?” Peter piped up, eyes following James as he paced in front of them. Sirius snorted at this. 

“I reckon Voldemort  _ loves  _ a Christmas party. Think he likes the little Christmas Crackers? Maybe a snog under the mistletoe?” 

“Now I’ve got the image of  _ Voldemort snogging  _ someone, Pads, thanks.” Remus said, wrinkling his nose. 

“You’re welcome, Moony!” 

“No, no, guys, Wormy’s right. There’s gotta be Death Eaters going to this party! I mean, you know the crowd your family hangs around, and if she wants you to go, maybe they were going to like…force you to join up!” James exclaimed, stopping his pacing. 

“More like they wanted me to go so they could corner and murder me. That would solve lots of their issues, I’m sure,” Sirius said drily. “But I  _ do _ see your point…”

“Do you think Regulus would know? He looked awfully pale during lunch,” said Remus. “Scared, almost.” 

Sirius nervously bit his bottom lip, avoiding their eyes as he thought of something to say. Remus wished he’d never spoken. 

“You don’t have to talk to him,” said Remus quickly. “We’ll just tell Dumbledore what we know, I’m sure he’ll take care of it.”

“Yeah, don’t worry about it,” James said kindly, nudging Sirius’s shoe with his own to get his attention, “we can tell him, if you want.” 

Sirius smiled then, rolling his eyes fondly. “Thanks,  _ mum _ , but I think I can keep it together long enough to talk to Dumbledore.” 

“Mhm…” 

“Hey! Want to go talk to Myrtle now? Lunch is almost over,” suggested Peter, watching Sirius shoot a glare at James. His comment had the desired effect, and Sirius looked over at him, a smile breaking out on his face.

“Absolutely. You’re a lifesaver, Pete.” 

Peter grinned, picking his bag up from the floor and slung it over his shoulder. “I am good for some things.” 

“What! You’re good for loads of things,” James exclaimed, throwing an arm around the smaller boy as they started up the big staircase. 

“Hah, bet that’s what his girlfriend says…” muttered Sirius, barely containing his grin. 

They all groaned in unison. 

“You’re  _ ridiculous _ ,” sighed Peter. 

Sirius opened his mouth, but Remus clamped a hand over it before he could even get a word out. “If you make a single joke about being  _ Sirius  _ I promise you will regret it for the rest of your life…”

“Thanks, Moony. Don’t think I could take many more of those,” Peter said. 

“I think I need some friends who  _ appreciate  _ a good pun,” muttered Sirius, after prying Remus’s fingers off his mouth.

“Maybe Snivellus is recruiting! The poor lad could probably do with some good pureblood friends like you,” James suggested, his tone overly-cheerful. 

Sirius chuckled. “Piss off, Potter.” 

“Should we go in yet?”  
“Shh, I’m _listening,_ Sirius,”

“Sorry.”

“I can’t hear— _ ouch _ , Wormy you just stuck your claws into my shoulder…”

“Ow! Rem, that was my toe! Why are you so bloody tall,” 

“It’s a werewolf thing.”

“…It is?” 

“No, idiot. Okay, I hear him talking. Sirius be quiet…” 

Remus pushed open the door to the girls bathroom slowly, creating a small gap for him, Sirius, and Peter (in rat form) to enter under the invisibility cloak. They didn’t all fit anymore, so they’d usually carry Peter around as a rat when they all needed to get under the cloak together. 

In the bathroom, James was looking apprehensively up at the ghost of Moaning Myrtle, who was floating up by one of the high windows, looking angry.

“This is already making me feel so much better,” Sirius whispered, grinning. Remus rolled his eyes. 

“I’m so glad.” 

“Listen, Mo-Myrtle, er,  _ Myrtle _ . I had a favor to ask…” 

“A favor?” she asked, eyebrows arched and arms crossed. 

“Yeah,” James paused, then his face lit up, and his voice became more confident. He’d had an idea. “ _ Actually _ , it’s less of a favor for me and more of a favor for you!” 

“Really?” her transparent eyes narrowed; clearly many people were not willing to do any favors for Myrtle. 

“It’s just, I know you spend all your time in this um, really nice bathroom, but I thought it’d do you well to see another part of the castle…” 

“Oh, he’s stupid.” Remus muttered. He felt Sirius’s exhale of a laugh on his cheek.

“ _ Really  _ stupid,” he agreed.

“Oh,” Myrtle’s voice had taken on a high pitched anger that even James could recognize. She flew down from her spot by the window. James stumbled over his robes as he stepped back. “You think I need to get out more, do you? Well,  _ Potter _ , I actually don’t mind this…this…” 

“This really nice bathroom?” supplied James. 

“You’re lying to me.” She seemed close to tears now, and all four Marauders were beginning to realize that James might not be able to bring it back. 

“No, no,” James tried to reassure her, rushing forward as though he were going to take Myrtle by the shoulders. “I’d never lie to you. I mean, honestly, if I were a ghost I wouldn’t half mind haunting a U-Bend in this girl’s toilet…” 

“He’s done it now,” Sirius commented, biting his lip to contain his laughter. 

He was right. As soon as the words were out of James’s mouth, Myrtle howled, and dove head first into the nearest toilet.

Peter squeaked from Remus’s shoulder. Sirius sent his friend a half-glance, then shrugged. 

“Yeah, I dunno, Wormy. I’m not sure how he can go from here…” 

James, however, was hiding his secret weapon. A secret weapon, which was, quite literally hidden, under an invisibility cloak in the corner of the room. 

“Myrtle, I’m really sorry I’ve upset you…” James started slowly.

“You’re still here?” Her head popped up in the toilet bowl.

“Yeah, but my friend just showed up; someone you like…” 

“Is it…Lupin?” 

“Yep! Come on out, Mr. Moony.” 

“Oh, I’m going to  _ kill  _ him.” Remus muttered, arms crossed. Sirius was shaking silently with laughter, and Remus purposefully stepped on his toes as he ducked out from under the cloak. He gently picked up Peter from his shoulder and pressed him into Sirius’s hands. “Shut up!” 

It had started snowing again by the time they left the bathroom. Students scurried from class to class, some wearing scarves to avoid the chill that had settled in the stone corridors. 

“I can’t believe I just watched Moony flirt with a ghost for twenty minutes.” Sirius chuckled. 

“‘ _ Have you done something nice with your hair today?’ _ ” Peter asked, mocking Remus. 

“Hah. She actually got quite offended by that one…” said Remus. “With good reason, I suppose. She is dead, after all; she can’t do much with her hair.” 

“She  _ wasn’t _ offended when you told her that…oh, what was it?” James asked.

“Oh, oh, he said, ‘I’m not sure if it’s just the light in here, but you look  _ gorgeous _ today,’” Peter could barely talk for laughing. James muttered a “ _ gorgeous”  _ between gasps of laughter. 

Remus, however, was not amused. He hid his face in his hands and grumbled, “ _ stop, _ you’re embarrassing me.” Then, he picked his head up with a newfound passion and glared at them. “Anyways, I’d like to see you try! She agreed to do the prank, so clearly I was doing something right. You lot ought to start taking notes…” 

“On flirting?” James asked, recovering somewhat from his laughing fit. “In case you haven’t noticed, you’re one of the only single ones here.”  
“Oh, really? I _hadn’t_ noticed, thanks, James.” Remus grumbled, crossing his arms. 

“Ah, but James, how could you forget that Moony is dating Padfoot!” Peter exclaimed. James gasped, over-dramatically. 

“You’re right, Pete! How  _ could  _ we forget!” 

“We’re not dating, actually.” Sirius said, avoiding Remus’s attempt to catch his eye. Remus had thought that they were fine, that everything had been forgiven after the lunch incident. Clearly he’d been wrong.

There was an awkward silence. Two second years bounded past them, shrieking with laughter and covered in snow. 

“You know,” James said carefully, “I was thinking that you guys could probably stop your dare now. I think you’ve convinced the school at this point.”

Remus felt his heart plummet, but decided to let Sirius talk first.

“Yeah, alright,” he was looking at the ground but looked up and shot Remus a tentative smile. “I suppose we  _ did _ do a pretty good job.” 

Remus stared at him in silence a moment, the tiniest frown creasing his features. “I guess,” he said eventually. “I’m going to the library.” 

Remus's footsteps echoed off the stone walls, and he tried to ignore the feeling of Sirius's eyes on his back as he walked away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello again :) comment and kudos if you would like !! thank you to everyone who has been reading/loving this fic <3


	15. amateurs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! sorry it's been so long since i've updated. i've been off on thanksgiving break, which i /thought/ would give me time to write more, but, alas, here we are. mostly i've been doing painting commissions to make some money, so that's been nice. 
> 
> (that was an unnecessary life update lol. enjoy your reading :))

**chapter fifteen**

**_monday evening—_ ** __

Hestia ran her fingers through Marlene’s hair, gently pulling through the golden tangles. Marlene sighed as Hestia began sectioning the chunk of hair, then gently twisting and braiding it. They were sitting in a hidden enclave behind a portrait near the Gryffindor common room. They’d found the spot at the start of term, and would hide there when they didn’t want to be bothered. 

“Something on your mind?” Hestia asked, listening to the irritated huffs of breath her girlfriend emitted every few minutes. She could picture the little creases in between Marlene’s eyebrows and the tip of her tongue just visible between her teeth as she concentrated. 

“Just this bloody ancient runes exam,” Marlene sighed again, looking down at the open textbook in front of her, the beam of light from her wand illuminating the strange symbols. 

“Hair tie.” Marlene pressed the hair tie into the hand that appeared just on the edges of her vision. As soon as the braid was secure, Hestia peered over Marlene’s shoulder and scanned the page. Pulling back, she pressed a kiss on the base of her neck before starting on the other braid. “I wouldn’t worry, you always do well in Ancient Runes. Besides, you don’t even  _ need  _ the Newt to be a Healer; I thought you just liked the subject.” 

Hestia secured the second braid, and Marlene sighed. “I  _ did  _ like the subject, until last night…when I remembered I needed to study it.” Marlene slumped back between Hestia’s legs, her back pressed against her chest. “I wish Remus was here…”

Marlene felt Hestia chuckle beneath her. “Hey! I seriously doubt Remus could braid your hair as well as I can.”

“That’s true,” Marlene grinned, and pressed a kiss to her jaw, the closest part of her she could reach. “I only meant that he’s the best at Ancient Runes, which even Lily would admit, and I just—” 

The portrait hiding their spot was flung back, and the two surprised girls were met with the faces of James, Sirius, and Peter.

“How’d you find this place?” Hestia asked, breaking the awkward silence. She and Marlene wordlessly scooted apart, until there was about an arm’s length between them. 

Peter chuckled. “We found it when we were eleven.”

“Amateurs,” Sirius added under his breath.

“Oi! If you’re just going to be rude, you can leave,” Marlene crossed her arms and scowled up at the boys. 

“Sorry Marls,” James said quickly, before Marlene and Sirius began truly bickering. “We were just wondering if you’ve seen Remus?”

Remus was very much regretting his decision to hide out in the greenhouses. It was bloody freezing, and there was a particularly active plant that kept trying to yank at his hair. He’d taken refuge under one of the tables, mostly to avoid the plant assault but also to avoid any students who might come in.

He’d taken the map with him, so was able to watch for them. Frank had come in earlier, presumably on some mission for Professor Sprout. Remus had held his breath, but the other boy didn’t seem to have noticed him as he checked on the Mandrakes growing in the corner before leaving with Alice, who was waiting for him at the door. 

Despite his attempts to hide from his friends, he was hardly surprised when Sirius found him about an hour or so into his seclusion. Remus didn’t even need the map to know who it was. He had recognized the gentle, familiar way he walked and the subtle scent of coconuts and something earthy and  _ Sirius  _ that just seemed to follow him wherever he went. He was alone, Remus could tell, and a glance at the map showed James and Peter down by the kitchens. 

“Moooony, I know you’re in here,” called Sirius, coming to stop right in front of the table Remus was under. 

“How’d you find me?” Remus grumbled, resigned. Sirius’s face appeared then, grinning, and he settled himself across from Remus. He remembered the night before, behind the portrait. They’d been in a similarly close position. But, Remus supposed wryly, the situations were rather different. 

“Frank told me.” Sirius shrugged. 

“The snitch! And I thought I’d hidden myself well…” 

“ _ Well _ , I wouldn’t get too upset with Frank. He may or not have been threatened to tell me with dire consequences to vital parts of his anatomy.” 

“Sirius, you can’t just threaten people like that,” Remus rolled his eyes. When he met Sirius’s again, they were shining with indignation.

“Hey! If I  _ hadn’t  _ threatened him you might have frozen to death before I found you.” Remus cursed silently as his body chose that moment to shiver violently, only proving Sirius right. “I mean, honestly, you look terrible.”

“Sweet of you,” Remus said dryly, pulling his hand up into the sleeves of his robe, hoping to find some warmth there. He looked down apprehensively when Sirius held out his hands. “What are you doing?” 

“Give me your hands, Rem. I can’t have you dying on me before we make up.” Giving in, Remus put his hands into Sirius’s blessedly warm ones.

“Is that what you’re here for? To make up?” Remus asked. Sirius paused before responding, gently rubbing the warmth back into Remus’s hands. It was incredibly distracting.

“Yes. But, er, well, I don’t want you to feel you need to _give_ me anything or—” Sirius stumbled along rather awkwardly.

Remus raised an eyebrow. “Well, that’s good. I wasn’t planning on shagging you under this Herbology table in below freezing weather, if that’s what you were implying. Besides, the Mandrakes are only babies, and I really don’t think Professor Sprout would appreciate them being exposed to that.” 

Sirius chuckled. “I  _ meant _ that I don’t want you to feel you need to say anything. I just wanted to apologize for saying that thing about being a disappointment to your parents for being a werewolf and—” 

“—gay.” Remus finished, voice quiet, the humor that had lined his face moments before had gone. Sirius nodded.

“Yes. Honestly, Remus, you’re the best person I know. I can’t imagine anyone being disappointed in you. It was a silly thing to say, and I think I was just projecting...”

“Have you secretly become a werewolf since the last full moon?” 

“Well, no, but I am a pureblood. Gay werewolf, gay pureblood, same difference.”

“I suppose I just got upset because you weren’t  _ wrong _ . Honestly, my parents probably would be disappointed if they knew. My mother would probably accept me eventually, tight-lipped and teary. My father would probably yell and…and…” 

“Yeah.” Sirius said in a whisper, understanding without needing the other boy to go on.

“And, well, that’s just the thing, isn’t it!  _ No one  _ is going to accept us, really. The Wizarding World isn’t so different from the Muggle one. I know you’ve seen the looks we’ve been getting in the halls these past few days, and just this afternoon on my way down here I heard these boys saying the most awful things about Marlene and Hestia…” Remus tore his eyes away from Sirius and watched as the purple and orange winter evening glow settled over the snowy landscape. 

“Is that why you left last night?” Sirius asked, his thumb ghosting over Remus’s left palm. Their eyes met again, and Remus gave a tiny nod.

“It’s just…dangerous.”

“Has that ever stopped us before?” Sirius asked. He had that almost-crazed gleam in his eyes that filled Remus simultaneously with a sense of nerves and that exhilarating feeling of being able to do anything in the world. “We could give it a shot…if you want.” 

Remus knew he was alluding to a relationship, and he bit his lip nervously. “Can I just think about it?” Part of him felt like a coward—he’d practically dreamt of this for the past two years. He was a  _ coward  _ and a  _ monster  _ and a million other things that made him unworthy of anything Sirius had to offer him. 

“Of course,” Sirius said gently. It was so gentle, in fact, that Remus thought he might cry. That, he decided, would be absolutely ridiculous, so he blinked back the emotion and busied himself with climbing out from under their table. 

“Hungry? I do believe our dear Severus has a date to dinner tonight.” It was a familiar, light topic, which Remus was in need of at that moment. He held out his hand to Sirius and pulled him up. 

“Oh, absolutely.” 

James and Peter were waiting for them by the front doors, sharing a slice of cake they’d clearly gotten from the kitchens. 

“Chocolate cake? I thought you two were supposed to be looking for me.” Remus crossed his arms and gave his friends his most Prefect-like look. 

“Well, it  _ was  _ for you, actually, but Mr-I’m-Starving just couldn’t wait,” Peter said, turning on James as well.

“Oi! You had some too!” James raised his fork in the air indignantly and a small piece of cake flew off it, landing some feet away on the stone floor. James turned to grin at Remus and Sirius. “So…you two make up? Make  _ out _ ?” 

Remus rolled his eyes, and took the cake and fork from James’s hands. “No.” He said, before taking a bite of the demolished remains. 

“You didn’t make up?”

“We made up, we didn’t make out.” Clarified Sirius. Remus nodded, mouth full. On any other occasion, Remus would not have eaten leftovers from either James or Peter, let alone their  _ combined  _ leftovers, but he felt he deserved some cake after the day he’d just had, and was willing to do pretty much anything to get it (even if that meant being the third person to eat from a single unwashed fork).

“Honestly, sometimes I wonder why Lily gave in to you,” Remus commented, after swallowing. 

“Hey! She loves me, actually.” 

James was ignored, and Sirius chuckled. “I often find myself wondering the exact same thing, Moony.” 

Their prank on Snape was a nice distraction for Remus. He was able to laugh and poke fun at him as Myrtle stood behind him the whole evening, making loud, flirty comments, much to the chagrin of their greasy-haired nemesis. He hadn’t even minded the talking-to from Lily and the other girls that evening. It felt merely like the next few steps in a dance he’d perfected over the last seven years. 

“You four are really going to get in trouble for that stunt at dinner,” Lily said. The four boys were sitting on their usual couch, while Lily stood menacingly before them. “In fact, as Head Girl, I should be giving you all detention.” 

“As Head Boy, can I get us all  _ out _ of detention?” James inquired. Lily sent him a withering glare, and he raised his hands in surrender. “Sorry.”

“First of all, that’s probably the first time Myrtle’s left that bathroom in the past thirty years—so they  _ should  _ be congratulating us, or at least asking how we did it,” said Sirius.

“How did you do it?” Mary asked, curiosity laced into her voice. She’d perched herself on the arm of Alice’s chair, and had been absentmindedly flicking through a textbook before Lily had started her tirade against the boys. 

“It was Remus,” said Peter. 

“As usual.” James added with a boyish grin. “Apparently he’s really good at flirting with ghosts.” 

“Flirting with ghosts?” Mary repeated.

“I’m not sure if it’s just the light in here, but you look  _ gorgeous _ today,” Sirius said, deepening his voice. 

Remus rolled his eyes. “I do not sound like that,” he muttered.

“Oh, Remus, you did  _ not  _ say that,” Alice said between laughs. 

“I did, and I’m regretting it more and more as it becomes increasingly clear that no one is ever going to let me live it down.” Remus sighed, and dropped his head into his hands as his friends fell into another round of giggles.

When everyone eventually pulled it together, Sirius found that he was running five minutes late for his detention that evening. Muttering something about McGonagall actually killing him, he scrambled out of the room, the portrait swinging shut behind him. As soon as he was gone, Peter smacked a hand to his forehead—an almost comical action. 

“Dorm room! Emergency Marauder meeting,” he said, jumping up and shooting glances at the girls. In a low whisper, he continued: “We forgot about Dumbledore!” 

Not wanting to exclude Sirius from the meeting with Dumbledore, the boys eventually ended up writing a letter to their Headmaster to explain the situation with the Black’s Christmas party and to ask if they could meet with him  _ ASAP.  _

They had a few arguments over the wording ( _ “We can’t say ‘ASAP’, Prongs, I highly doubt Dumbledore knows what that means.”…“I thought he was smart, Moony!”...“Well, yes, but Wizards don’t really use it, do they?”...“I do, and I’m a Wizard.”...“I’m writing ‘as soon as possible’.”...“Moony!”...”Sorry, Prongs, but you did say Moony should write the letter.”...“Piss off, Wormtail.” _ ), but eventually they’d all stuck their heads out of the window to watch James’s tawny owl carry the letter the short distance to Dumbledore’s office. They watched until the night obscured their vision, and they could only hope it had made it. 

“Do you think it will get intercepted?” Peter asked, pulling on his pyjamas and glancing, worried, at the window every few moments. 

“No, we practically watched it the whole way. Unless someone’s killed Dumbledore, taken over his office, has read the letter, and knows what we were writing about, I’d say we’ll be alright.” 

“Merlin, James, that’s quite the image.” Remus said with a snort, pulling on his own pyjamas. 

“My mother used to tell me I have an overactive imagination…” 

“You seem far too proud of that.” 

“No one would be able to break in and kill Dumbledore…right?” 

“Dumbledore will be fine, Pete, no need to worry your pretty little head over it.” 

“Ugh,  _ James _ .” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comment and kudos if you would like!! i hope you all enjoyed the chapter <3 
> 
> (also! if you have any ideas for this fic or stuff you'd like to see, comment it and i'll see if i can work it in!)


	16. mon petit chou

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've had an incredibly chaotic three weeks. lots of exams and papers and projects !! it's not been super fun, but i'm back now haha. this chapter has been in the making for quite a while, since i've had basically no time to write, so sorry if it feels a little weirdly written. i have a pretty solid plan for the next chapter and i've got lots of time so hopefully that will be up soon. anyway ! enjoy !

**chapter sixteen**

**_tuesday—_ **

_ Dear Remus, _

_ Thank you for writing. Artemis seemed excited to see me—she ate nearly all my breakfast right off my plate! Your father says I shouldn’t let an owl behave like that, but I found it all rather amusing. _

_ I’m glad to hear you’ve had a good term so far. Are you feeling okay? I know that the moon passed only just a few days ago. Your father says it’s silly, but I never sleep well on the full moon nights—I worry myself sick over you, cariad. _

_ I know you’re planning on staying for the Christmas holidays, but I, and your father of course, were hoping you might come back home for the Easter ones. I can’t wait to see my soon-to-be Hogwarts graduate. _

_ Also, this package arrived today. I thought I’d send it with Artemis. I ended up having to send your father’s owl as well, as the package was so big. I’m assuming it’s a Christmas present, since it was wrapped when it arrived, so I just let it be.  _

_ I hope you have a wonderful Christmas, darling, _

_ Love, _

_ Mother _

_ P.S. Your father wants me to ask if you could ask Artemis to not bite him as much. I suspect he’s just jealous she likes me more than him, though I wouldn’t dare say it. Feed her an extra sausage for me, won’t you? _

Remus looked up from his letter, and nudged a half-eaten sausage towards his snowy owl. Artemis ate it quickly before turning on Sirius’s plate and eating some of his eggs. Sirius tried to push her away but she merely nipped gently at his fingers and pushed his hand out of the way.

“From your mum?” James asked, eyes scanning the big wrapped package that Lyall Lupin’s owl was perched on, gazing importantly around at the students surrounding him. 

Remus hummed non-committedly, re-reading his mother’s words. He sighed and set the paper down, looking up to shoo away his father’s bird. “Go!”—the owl only looked at him—“Go on!” 

This time, the owl hooted once, and flew away. “Prat,” Remus muttered.

“The owl?” Peter asked around a bite of toast.

“My father,” Remus clarified. “It’s always ‘your father says’ this and ‘your father says’ that. I mean  _ honestly,  _ it’s like the man bloody controls her every thought.”

“Well, does he?” Sirius asked, still fighting a losing battle with Artemis over his breakfast. “Walburga used to say the most ridiculous stuff about wives being controlled by their husbands.”

It had been nearly a whole year since Sirius ran away from home, and he had taken to calling his real mother and father Walburga and Orion, respectively. (Mr and Mrs. Potter were now “mum” and “dad”, but Sirius still felt a little awkward about it sometimes).

Remus sighed again. “I suppose he does…he bloody controls everything else.” He looked back down at the letter. 

_ I worry myself sick over you, cariad… your father says it’s silly…  _

“What’s in the package?” Peter asked, drawing Remus from his thoughts. Inside the plain brown wrappings was the Christmas present that Remus had ordered Sirius a few days previous.

“A Christmas present,” Remus put folded up the letter and slipped it back into its envelope. 

“Who’s it for?” Sirius asked, wiggling his eyebrows. Remus rolled his eyes at him, but smiled a little all the same. 

“I guess you’ll just have to find out.” Sirius stuck his tongue out at him and Remus returned the gesture. 

The two hadn’t yet talked again about their conversation in the greenhouses the day before. Remus was worried that Sirius would become impatient, as he often did, and leave him behind. His fears had been assuaged somewhat when he’d woken that morning to find Sirius curled up, in dog form, at the end of his bed.  _ “You were having a nightmare,” _ he’d said, when Remus asked. “ _ You don’t have to climb into my bed every time I have a nightmare, you know. _ ” “ _ I have since we were eleven, haven’t I? _ ” (Remus couldn’t argue with that.)

Between the nightmares and the thoughts constantly plaguing him, Remus had had an awful night's sleep. 

***

_ Mum, _

_ Artemis seems glad to be back. She ate nearly all of Sirius’s eggs this morning. I swear she’s fed; I suppose she’s just got a big appetite (wonder who she picked that up from). _

_ The moon was alright, just bad timing because of exams and all that.  _ ~~_ You needn’t worry about me. _ ~~ _ I’m sorry I've worried you. My moon’s have gotten loads easier and they’re always better at school anyway. _

_~~I’ll come back for the Easter holidays… If you want,~~ _ _ I can——  _

Just as Remus let out an irritated huff, the portrait hole swung open and Sirius climbed through. A little too violently, he jerked back the empty chair next to Remus and plopped down into it. It was early afternoon, and they all had another exam in only an hour. 

“What’s wrong, mate?” James asked, not even needing to look up from his Charms textbook to tell Sirius was in a mood.

Remus, glad for the excuse to stop writing, crumpled up his unfinished letter and dropped it into his bag, silently vowing to write another later.

“I saw Regulus in the hall,” he grumbled. The other three boys perked up at this, and exchanged glances with each other. 

“Did you…er, talk?” Peter asked gently. 

“Well, I asked him who was going to that Christmas party, and he said  _ family _ ,” Sirius rolled his eyes, like this was the stupidest thing Regulus could have said. “We’re related to practically everyone. I mean, bloody hell, ‘family’ could be you, Prongs, considering we’ve got to be a little related. Or, better yet, the entire Weasley clan...”

“I guess that makes sense. It would be rather silly to invite you to a party that Voldemort was attending over Howler…” Remus mused. 

“What  _ about _ …You-Know-Who?” Peter asked, his voice dropping to a whisper. 

James chuckled. “I think you can call him Voldemort, Wormy.” 

“But the papers say…!”

“Bugger what the papers say!”

“Oi! No fighting. I’m telling a story,” Sirius snapped, arms crossed and practically pouting. 

“We weren’t fighting,” James said stubbornly. “We were merely  _ discussing _ .” 

“Sure.” Sirius rolled his eyes, but pressed on. “Apparently Voldemort will not be attending, which Regulus thought was an absolutely ridiculous suggestion…to use his words. I guess this was mostly some last-ditch plan of my mother’s to get me back. Merlin knows why.”

“I thought you’d been disowned,” James said, eyebrows raised. Sirius shrugged.

I mean, there wasn’t any kind of big fallout when I left…I’d just had enough. Regulus says I’ve finally been burnt off the wall though, so I suppose that’s it for me.”

“Well that’s good, isn’t it?” Peter asked, grinning.

Remus watched a flicker of a genuine Sirius smile flicker across his friend’s face. “Yeah, it is pretty good.”

“Now we’ve got loads more to tell Dumbledore!” James said.

“I mean, hardly. If anything we’ve just disproved all of our theories.” Sirius snorted. James merely waved a dismissive hand.

“Don’t be such a pessimist, Pads.” 

Their exams that day passed quickly, and Remus was glad to use them as an excuse to push Sirius out of his mind and dive fully into his studies. Of course, this didn’t entirely go to plan. There had been an incident during their practical Charms exam where Sirius had smiled at Remus from across the room, causing him to completely lose focus and shoot Professor Flitwick right in the face rather violently with the (previously) gentle stream of water coming out of his wand. 

(He’d apologized profusely and tried to make the point that he  _ had  _ done the spell correctly—but he wasn’t sure that helped his case.)

Later, when the waning moon had only just risen past the tree line, the halls of Hogwarts were full as students happily made their way back to their dorms—full of dinner and laughter and whispers. 

Remus was deep in thought as he weaved his way unconsciously through the crowds, eyes watching for the moon through the windows they passed. 

“What are you thinking about?” Sirius asked, falling into step next to Remus. James was walking ahead with Lily, and Peter had disappeared with his new girlfriend Caroline.

“My mum.” Remus said, not looking at Sirius.

“Mm,” he hummed in response, following Remus’s line of sight until he caught sight of the moon, hovering just over the trees. Sirius nudged Remus’s shoulder to draw his attention away. He tried to steer the conversation into definitively light territory. “I know your mum is Welsh…has she taught you any?” 

Remus rolled his eyes, and finally looked over at Sirius, a small smile on his lips. “You’ve already asked me that, Pads.” 

“And I’ll keep asking until you say literally anything in Welsh.” 

“Well, I don’t know…I barely know any. Most of it’s just stuff I’ve picked up from my mum…I’m not even sure what half the words I know mean.” Remus grew quiet. A few younger kids raced past them. “She calls me  _ cariad _ —which is Welsh.” 

They arrived at the portrait hole, but neither made a move to enter the common room. 

“You know, if we were dating, you could call me welsh terms of endearment and I could call you french ones,” Sirius suggested slowly. Remus snorted.

“Oh? Like what?”

“You could be… _ mon petit chou _ !”

“What’s that mean?”  
“Well, technically, it means my little cabbage…” 

Remus laughed. “How charming. Can your little cabbage have a little more time to think about—”

“—oh no! Take all the time you want. I was just, erm…”

“Trying to sway me?”

“Yes!” Remus raised an eyebrow. “Wait, no! I meant no.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you liked this chapter ! comment and kudos if you want ! <3


	17. reasons i should and should not date sirius black

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello all :) i hope you like the chapter today! it's a bit of a two-parter, so it's a little shorter than some of the others. i like it a lot though!

**chapter seventeen**

**_wednesday morning—_ **

“Mum says hi to you three,” James said, nibbling on some buttered toast as he looked over his mother’s letter at breakfast. “ _ Aw,  _ and she gives Sirius, her fav— _ her favorite son _ ? Oh, come on.” He frowned, and sent a glare Sirius’s way. 

Sirius laughed, and tried to peek around James’s shoulder to see what the letter said. “What did she want to give me?” 

“Well, she wanted me to give you a hug, but I’m not so sure I’m going to give you one now.” 

“Get over here, you twat.” Sirius made a grab for James, which he failed to dodge as Lily was next to him and the only place he could go was backwards off the bench. He struggled in Sirius’s arms a little, but Sirius was a tight hugger, and eventually he gave up with a sigh. 

“Are you going to let me go?”  
Sirius dropped his arms with a grin. “If it’s any consolation, you’re my favorite brother.” 

“Eurgh. That’s far too sappy for this early in the morning.” Peter mumbled, hands grasped around his tea like it was keeping him alive. He made his tea religiously every morning—English Breakfast, with far too much milk and two carefully selected sugar cubes. 

“Pete, it’s eight-thirty.” Remus pointed out. He was holding his own tea (his second of the morning—Chamomile), and flicking lazily through the  _ Daily Prophet _ . 

“Yeah, but I was kept up half the night by Potter’s chattering. I mean, honestly, it was like when we were fifteen and he would talk about Lily  _ all night _ .” Peter chuckled a little at the memories. “Merlin,  _ remember?  _ It was all… ‘ _ did you see Lily got a haircut over the summer?’ _ ” 

“ _ Do you think Lily likes my stubble? She probably doesn’t…I should shave it, shouldn’t I? _ ” Remus added, sniggering as James’s put-out expression across the table. Lily was laughing just as hard as the others, which only deepened James’s pouty face.

“ _ Lily’s so pretty… _ ” Sirius said, voice mock-dreamy as he batted his eyelashes at James. 

“Oi! That’s enough, thank you very much. Besides, we had loads to talk about last night…I mean,  _ The Order of the Phoenix _ ,” he dropped his voice to a whisper and leant in closer to the other Marauders. 

They’d learnt about the Order the night before, after Dumbledore had summoned them to discuss the Black Christmas Party situation. He’d seemed impressed with their sleuthing and general dedication, even if the information they had gathered ended up being rather useless. 

“I can’t believe I missed it. Bloody detention,” Peter said, glaring at Sirius at the word  _ detention _ , but Sirius ignored him, sparing the small boy only a fleeting grin. 

“It’s exciting, isn’t it?” James continued, eyes gleaming in a familiar prank-planning kind of way. “We’ll get to be right in the middle of it all—fighting Death Eaters and sneaking around and saving people…” 

“You make it sound a lot more fun than it probably will be,” Remus said with a snort. 

“You don’t think it sounds fun, Moons?” 

“I mean, I’m not sure  _ fun  _ is the word I’d use…I suppose I just think you all need to look at it a little more realistically. This is a war, after all, people will die.” There was a silence, and Remus hurried to fill it. “Besides, I suppose I just know where my place will be in all of this.” 

“What do you mean?” Sirius asked, brows furrowed.

“I can’t imagine Dumbledore has any other werewolves on his side. And, you’ve all been reading the Prophet, loads of werewolves are turning to Voldemort,” Remus shrugged, “they’ll send me into all kinds of werewolf encampments I’m sure—to figure out what their plans are and all that.” 

“But that sounds… really dangerous.” James said. “Surely he wouldn’t send you out alone.” 

“It’s a war, Prongs.” Remus repeated with a shrug. 

Around the castle, as the final day of exams dawned, students began to tentatively look forward to Christmas and the final Hogsmeade visit of the term on Saturday. 

That Wednesday morning, Hagrid could be seen lugging a massive Christmas tree through the Great Hall, leaving a trail of melting snow and pine needles behind him. The teachers had done most of the decorating, as they usually did, but the students were adding their own festive flair.

“It’s brilliant, isn’t it?” Sirius asked, grinning broadly as two Ravenclaw fourth years walked through the doorway of a nearby room, before stopping to stare at each other in a panic as mistletoe appeared above their heads. A few people in the hall cheered and whistled, and the two flushed before sharing a very awkward kiss-on-the-cheek-moment. 

“And it works on every door?” Remus asked, watching as the Ravenclaws scurried in opposite directions. 

“Yep. If two people walk under any doorway in the castle, mistletoe will appear above their heads and they’ll  _ have  _ to kiss.”

“What happens if they don’t?” Peter asked, somewhat alarmed. 

“Well, nothing. But they  _ should _ . It’s festive!” 

“Where’d you even find this spell?” James asked. People seemed to be catching on to what was happening, and crowds began forming as students hesitated to enter the classrooms. 

“Library. It was a few spells really—just had to mush them all together.” Sirius shrugged. It was usually a sign that if Sirius Black was seen in the library, pranks were being planned.

“Remus!” a voice called out from behind them. The Marauders turned and Remus’s stomach sank somewhat as he recognized the golden blonde flop of hair and obnoxious smile belonging to Gilderoy Lockhart, sixth year Ravenclaw. 

“Oh, Lockhart.” He said, sounding not nearly as excited as the other boy.

“You can call me Gilderoy,” he said, flashing his teeth. “I was just heading to the library to study for my Defense Against the Dark Arts exam, then I saw you—Hogwarts’ best study group leader!” 

Remus raised an eyebrow. “But you’ve never been to one of my study sessions.” He said, remembering distinctly Lockhart telling him he ‘ _ knew it all already _ ’ after extending an invitation the year before. 

Lockhart flushed a pale pink. “I know, but I was just hoping you would help me go over a few topics for my exam this afternoon? Unless,”—his eyes roamed over Sirius, James, and Peter standing behind Remus—“you’re already busy.” 

“Nah, we’re just leaving. Enjoy your  _ studying _ , Rem.” Sirius said, eyes unusually cold as they looked over Lockhart. Remus wasn’t quite sure where all the possessiveness was coming from, and felt it was rather an overreaction. It was only studying, after all. James seemed to feel the same, and Remus saw him roll his eyes.

“Erm, thanks. Good luck on your Care of Magical Creatures exam.” Remus waved them off. 

“They’re a bit weird, your friends.” Lockhart said, as he and Remus began weaving their way towards the library. 

“You wouldn’t think so, if you got to know them. They’re loyal and kind and funny. They’re just a bit protective of me, is all.” Remus shrugged, already annoyed with the younger boy. Lockhart got on his nerves on the best of days, and it was certainly not the best of days. He’d spent the night dreaming of Sirius, jerking awake a few times only to watch him sleep through the gap in his curtains, moonlight touching the high planes of his face. He was well aware of what his heart wanted—had wanted since they were fifteen and Sirius had held his hand as James pierced his ears in the dorm bathroom (a somewhat risky choice of piercer, but James was surprisingly careful-handed when he needed to be)—but his head was still holding him back from making any kind of move (he was one reasons-I-should-and-should-not-date-Sirius-Black list from going absolutely mad).

Luckily, when they arrived at the library, Remus and Lockhart were able to enter at the same time as another small group of students, and were saved from any mistletoe appearing. 

“Defense Against the Dark Arts is really my best subject, you know.” Lockhart commented as he flipped through his textbook. Remus was studying a chip in the wood table with great interest. “I’ll be famous one day, I reckon. Slayer of werewolves and vampires, saver of the downtrodden.” 

“Slayer of werewolves?” Remus repeated, trying to keep his voice light. 

“Mhm…but that’s beside the point. Studying.” Lockhart stated, looking over at Remus from under his lashes. “Like you said earlier, I don’t really study…so, won’t you show me how?” 

“Er,” Remus pulled the book over so it sat between them, not noticing the way Lockhart tried to drag his fingers across his hand when they passed. “I mean, it’s not that hard…” 

Remus spent nearly an hour quizzing Lockhart on everything from Inferi to the Unforgivable Curses. They’d even practiced some nonverbal spells, though he wasn’t very good at those. Remus felt the only thing he was good at was the shield charm—which he’d nearly perfected. 

It was around the hour mark that Remus began to feel there was some kind of ulterior motive for their study session (though part of him was wondering if he was just so bored he was making things up. He enjoyed helping other students study, but Lockhart was annoying and a bit of a lost cause). Somehow, Lockhart seemed to get closer to Remus every once and awhile, until their chairs were practically touching. It was about the third time Remus felt his foot brush across his barely exposed ankle that he decided to speak up. 

“Did you really want to study today, Lo-er, Gilderoy?” he asked, putting down the book. Lockhart blushed again, and ran his fingers through his hair in a way which reminded Remus of James. 

“Did you and Black really break up?” Lockhart blurted out. 

Remus started. “Oh. Uh, yeah, we did. But we’re friends so it’s um, yeah it’s alright now. I suppose,” his words came out in a rush, and he realized too late that they didn’t make a whole lot of sense.

Lockhart was scooting closer, Remus realized, and he wished he could sink back into his chair. 

“Black’s a bit of a prick anyway, I think. You deserve someone better than him—someone nicer, funnier, more handsome.” They were far too close, and Remus didn’t miss the way Lockhart’s eyes flicked over his body. He jumped up then, ignoring the way Lockhart sat back in surprise, and grabbed his bag, slinging it over his shoulder as he walked backwards away from their table. 

“Er, listen, it’s been…very illuminating, but I’ve really got to-to go. I have to go. Good luck on your exam, I’d study more if I were you.” Remus said, before promptly turning on his heel and hurrying out of the library, leaving Lockhart, put-out and frowning, behind him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! comment & kudos if u want!! i hope you enjoyed the chapter <3


	18. what ifs?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi :)

**chapter eighteen**

**_wednesday, mid-morning—_ **

Remus, despite his initial outburst in the library, took his time meandering through the castle. He’d looked at the clock behind Madam Pince’s desk before he’d left, and saw that exams were still in progress, so there was no need to rush anywhere. He eventually decided on going to the common room, where he might run into some of his other friends. 

He was correct in this assumption, and found the common room completely empty except from Mary, who was hanging trying to wrap tinsel around a massive christmas tree in the corner, and Marlene and Hestia, who were giggling and wrapped up in each other’s arms as they swayed about to Christmas music (coming from Sirius’s muggle radio—he’d spent months the year before trying to break the charm on muggle technology in the castle. The whole of Gryffindor was sworn to secrecy in the matter, but everyone enjoyed having access to muggle music too much to rat him out to McGonagall). Remus’s heart lurched at the sight of the two girls, and he thought of Sirius. An anxious feeling rolled about in his stomach. 

“Can you two  _ please  _ stop making out for three seconds and help me?” Mary exclaimed, spinning around to glare at them, then added, softer, “hello, Remus.”

“We aren’t making out, thank you very much. Besides, you had it all under control.” Marlene shrugged, then laughed as Hestia spun her around. 

“I can help you, Mary.” Remus offered with a smile, crossing over to her and taking a box of ornaments from her arms. “Where is everyone?” 

“Exams. Then we threatened all the others to leave. McGonagall is letting us decorate the common room this year!” Marlene said. 

“Well, more like we wore her down about it every day until she couldn’t say no anymore,” added Hestia. 

“Who usually decorates it?” Remus asked, realizing he’d never really questioned the magical appearance of decorations every December. 

“Dunno, actually. House elves probably.” Marlene shrugged, crossing over to one of the couches and plopping down on it, pulling Hestia with her. “We thought we’d do a better job. Alice and Lily are in on it too, ‘course.” 

“Ah, we thought we heard raised voices coming from the girls dorm the other night,” said Remus with a chuckle. 

“Mm, we learned everyone has  _ very  _ strong opinions on how Christmas decoration should be done…” Hestia said, grinning. 

“We heard you were on a little study date with Lockhart,” Mary said, putting the finishing touches on the tinsel. Remus had to duck out of the way as she began levitating ornaments to put on the tree. 

“What? Who told you that?” 

“James. Had to stop by to grab something before his exam.”

“Sirius seemed rather grumpy about it all,” Hestia gave him a pointed look, and Remus rearranged the ornaments on the table to avoid it. “I was under the impression that you were going to  _ talk to him _ ?”

“Yeah, what’s up with that?” Mary asked, crossing the room to drop some garland in Hestia and Marlene’s laps, instructing them about where she wanted it hung before turning back to Remus. “Hest told us all about your prank—”

“And your kiss!” Marlene piped up, wrapping the garland around her neck like a scarf and making loud kissing noises.

“Ugh,  _ guys _ ,” Remus grumbled, collapsing into a nearby armchair. “We did talk, if you must know. I—well, I told him I needed more time to think…and it’s just been like normal since then, which is a little weird, if I’m honest.” 

“Why’d you tell him that?” Mary asked, moving to sit on the arm of Remus’s chair. 

“Yeah, I mean you’ve been pining for that boy since you were like fifteen years old—everyone could see that.” Marlene said, eyes trained on her levitated garland. 

Remus gnawed on his lip. Marlene was only saying what he’d been telling himself for the past 48 hours, but couldn’t seem to get past the mental wall he’d built up—a wall of fears and unpredictable futures and wars and  _ what ifs? _

“I’ve been a bit of an idiot, haven’t I?” he said eventually. Mary laid a hand on his shoulder, but could only open her mouth to speak before the portrait hole swung open. 

“Afternoon ladies, Moony.” It was James, cheeks flushed and a Gryffindor scarf wrapped tightly around his neck. It seemed their exam had been outside. 

“It’s not even lunch yet, James.” Hestia said, bustling past, more garland in her arms. Marlene grinned at her and gently picked a piece of tinsel out of her hair. 

Remus smiled at James in greeting, but couldn’t ignore the way his heart had begun to pound. Wherever James was, Sirius was. 

“SIRIUS!” 

_ There he is. _

Lily stormed into the common room, hair a shocking shade of blue. James’s eyes widened, and Remus watched as he tried to stop the smile growing on his face. “Oh…Lils…” he cleared his throat, biting his lip. 

Sirius climbed in next, followed by a cackling Peter. “Nice, isn’t it, Prongs? Doesn't really match the eyes though. Maybe a few shades greener?” 

“If you even  _ point  _ that wand at me you will regret you were ever born.” 

“Ah, but Flower, I already do regret being born.” 

Lily let out an irritated kind of groan, and turned on James to demand he change it back. Eventually, Lily’s hair was back to its regular fiery red, though she was still glaring daggers at Sirius. 

Sirius cast his eyes around the room, looking for a way to avoid Angry Lily (it had been unanimously decided by the Marauders when they were thirteen that Angry Lily was Lily’s scariest variant) when his eyes came to rest upon Remus, who had since gotten up and was helping Mary unravel reams of muggle lights to put on the tree. 

“So, Moons, done making out with Lockhart already?” Sirius asked casually, strolling over to them and picking up the end of the string of lights, turning it around in his hands to inspect the plug curiously. 

“What?!” Remus frowned at him. “How does everyone know he likes me?”

“You mean you didn’t know?” Mary asked, gently pulling the plug from Sirius’s hands so she could take the lights over to the tree. 

“Well, not until he spent a whole bloody hour brushing hands with me, touching my knee, my arms, my shoulder.  _ Then _ he tried to fucking  _ kiss me _ .” 

“He tried to kiss you?” James asked. “What’d you do?”

“Left him there,” Remus shrugged. “It was a nightmare trying to teach him, honestly. The lad’s in Ravenclaw, you’d think he’d be  _ smart _ .” 

“Brutal.” Hestia said with a snort. 

“It’s true! Lockhart probably couldn’t tell a vampire from an inferius, if it came down to it. He told me he wants to be some kind of  _ monster slayer _ . You know, vampires, werewolves, the like.” 

The other Marauders, and Lily, who had only recently learned of lycanthropy, turned to stare at him in shock. They turned almost entirely in sync, which Remus probably would have found funny had he not been imagining his own death at the hands of the sixteen year old boy who had just tried to kiss him in the library.

“Werewolves?” Peter asked.

“He said that?” Sirius said, frowning. 

“I bet loads of people want to kill dark creatures,” Mary said with a shrug. Sirius’s frown deepened but refrained from commenting after Remus just barely shook his head in warning. “Dunno what kind of  _ job  _ that is, though.” 

“Probably not a very lucrative one,” said Remus, lightly. 

“It’s a terrible job!” Lily burst out. 

Remus cleared his throat. “Well, regardless, um, I didn't have a great time. Are we going ice skating tomorrow?” 

It was an admittedly awful conversation change, but James quickly jumped to his rescue. Sirius was still frowning at him, and Remus was avoiding his eyes. “Of course! Wormy was thinking we could have a snowball fight too—it’s supposed to snow again tonight.” 

“Oh, yeah, brilliant.” He looked up and finally met Sirius’s gaze. “You alright there, Pads?” 

“Can I talk to you?” 

“Alone?” 

Sirius glanced around—Hestia was sprawled out on the couch, flipping through radio channels with lazy flicks of her wand. Marlene and Mary were arguing about whether or not they should charm the room to make it so it was constantly snowing ( _ “It’ll be a mess!”, “It’s bloody festive, Mary!” _ ). James wasn’t really paying them much attention, eyes watching Peter and Lily at the table by the window. The two were pouring over the plans for the upcoming Marauder Christmas Party. 

“Yeah.” Sirius, much to Remus’s surprise, grabbed his hand and pulled him across the room, into some small alcove where they were hidden from view of the others.

“What’s all this about?” Remus asked, tentatively taking his hand out of Sirius’s.

“Did Lockhart really say those things? The killing werewolves and all that?” Remus sat down, and Sirius followed. They sat side by side, legs stretched out before them. Remus could have probably touched the opposite wall with his toes, if he’d wanted. 

“He did. Honestly, Sirius, people say shit like that all the time. It isn’t a big deal.” 

“But it is! No one should…he can’t just  _ say  _ something like that. To you or…or to anyone, really.” 

“Well, he didn’t know he was trying to snog a werewolf, did he?” When Sirius made a noise like he wanted to protest, Remus raised a hand. “Really, Pads, I don’t care. The whole thing, the flirting bit at least, made me realize something. About you. Well, actually it was about me I guess but…” 

Remus glanced over at Sirius, who was watching him—eyebrows raised, expression hopeful. Remus let his hand fall off his lap and land next to Sirius’s. He inched his hand to the left until their fingers were tangled together.

“Oh, Sirius, I don’t know what the bloody hell I was thinking when I said…I mean, it is terrifying and maybe it’s stupid but I just…I want…” Remus, unable to find any more words, shifted so he was facing Sirius more fully, and kissed him. Sirius kissed back, and Remus felt it was the first time he’d been able to breathe since Sunday. 

“Oh, Moony,” Sirius pulled away. “Only you could be so eloquent.” 

“Shut up,” Remus swatted his chest half-heartedly. 

“I’m expecting love poems, I hope you know. Perhaps songs as well.  _ Definitely  _ love letters.” Sirius said, hands still grasping at Remus’s robes. Remus rolled his eyes. “Will you go to Hogsmeade with me? On Saturday?” 

“Were we not already going together? You know, as best best friends?” Remus asked, grinning. Sirius pulled him back to kiss him again. 

“You’re so annoying.”

“Ah, you love me really.” 

“So, Hogsmeade?” 

“Of course.” Remus reached out and pushed a lock of hair behind Sirius’s ear. “What are we going to tell the others?” 

They weren’t far away, only separated from them by a wall and the loud Christmas music coming from the radio. Sirius bit his lip. “Can we tell them nothing? For now. It’s not that they wouldn’t be supportive, Merlin knows James and Peter would probably kill for us to get together at this point, but it’s just…I’d like to keep you to myself for now.”

“Yeah, I feel the same. Until we work everything out. Then  _ everyone  _ gets to know.” Remus said, smiling at Sirius and interlacing their fingers again. 

“Absolutely everyone. I reckon we can write a little announcement in the Prophet.  _ ‘Remus Lupin and Sirius Black dating—our sources say they intend to stay together forever and ever and ever and ever…’ _ ” __

Remus was kissing him again, and Sirius wished they could stay just the way they were for eternity. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you liked this chapter ! comment and kudos if u want <3


	19. carrots

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> good evening :)

**chapter nineteen**

**_thursday morning—_ **

Remus was woken Thursday morning to the gentle, unmistakable tickle of whiskers on his cheek. He groaned, burying his face in his pillow. “ _ Pads,  _ please don’t lick me.” He grumbled, voice muffled. 

Remus braced himself for an inevitable attack from canine Sirius, and slowly grew suspicious when it never came. He cracked open one bleary eye, and nearly tumbled off the bed when he came eye to eye with a cat—a very angry looking ginger one that he realized was Carrots, Lily’s cat. 

“Carrots?” He asked, then realized he sounded stupid. The cat wasn’t going to  _ respond  _ to him. 

“Ah, I see Carrots has found you.”  _ That  _ was Sirius, walking out of the bathroom with a grin on his face, having just gotten out of the shower, wearing only his pajama bottoms.

Remus frowned. “Are you wearing your pajamas again?” 

Sirius looked down, then back up at Remus. “Yes?”

“You got out of bed this morning, in your pajamas, took a shower, then immediately put  _ back on  _ those same pajamas?” 

“Merlin, Moony, it’s  _ Christmas break _ . I just had to endure nearly a whole week of exams—I think I can wear my pajamas whenever I want.” Sirius grinned at him, then dried his hair with the towel around his neck (leaving it sticking up in all directions in a rather James-like way) before throwing on a shirt and plopping himself down at the end of Remus’s bed. 

Carrots immediately went to him, nuzzling at his knee before crawling into his lap and curling into a ball (Remus thought Sirius looked incredibly adorable, freshly showered with Carrots in his lap, though he wouldn’t say it aloud). 

“Where are the others?” Remus asked, looking around at the other empty beds. “Is it late? Did I sleep in?”

“It’s only nine. You know Frank— _ always  _ up early even on break,”—Sirius made a face at this, as if getting up early on break was one of the worst things a person could do—“And James dragged Peter off on one of his for Quidditch practices. Poor Pete, you know how James is about Quidditch.” 

“Why didn’t you go with them?” Remus knew how much Sirius enjoyed practicing with James, even if he complained about his occasionally fanatical tactics. 

“Thought I’d rather stay here with you.” Sirius said with a casual shrug. “You look cute in the morning—cuddable.” 

“Cuddable?” Remus asked, eyebrows raised. Sirius flushed, and Remus took his socked foot out from under the blankets to nudge at Sirius’s knee. “Come on then; cuddle me if you must.” 

“If I  _ must _ ,” Sirius snorted, dropping Carrots unceremoniously from his lap (much to her chagrin) to crawl up the bed and slip under the covers with Remus. “You sound quite enthusiastic.”

“Oh, so sorry,” Remus cleared his throat dramatically, his hand stilling at the base of Sirius’s neck, fingers caught up in the damp curls there. “Dearest Padfoot, I’ve been thinking about you for the past twelve hours and I’m afraid that if you don’t get into bed with me right now I might just die as a result of my thus touched starved teenage years.” 

“Better.” Sirius murmured into his neck. Remus could feel his breath on his collarbones where the neck of his shirt had been pulled down. 

Remus went back to playing with the hair at the nape of Sirius’s neck. “Really though, Pads, thanks for staying this morning. I know how you like practicing with Prongs.” 

Sirius shrugged against him. “I wanted to, and I don’t have a broom anymore since the accident. Besides, thought it’d work as a nice apology for not ice skating with you later today.” 

Remus snorted. “You  _ are  _ ice skating with me today.”

“You know I can’t skate!”

“Well, you will today. Don’t worry, love, I’ll teach you.” 

“Oh! You can’t do that.” 

“Do what?” Remus asked innocently. Sirius turned his head to scowl up at him.

“You called me love so I would say yes.”

“No I didn’t.” 

“Yes you did!”

“Did it work?” 

Sirius’s scowl deepened. “Yes,” he grumbled. Remus bent down to kiss the tip of his nose.

“Great. I won’t let you fall, I promise.” 

“You better not.” 

Far too soon, Remus decided they probably ought to get up. He was sure James and Peter would be back soon, and they didn’t want to miss breakfast. He was right, of course, because as soon as Remus stepped out of the bathroom wearing his sweater of choice for the day, he could hear James and Peter climbing the stairs (rather loudly—he probably could have heard them sans special-werewolf-hearing-powers). 

“Cute sweater.” Sirius poked Remus’s shoulder. Remus rolled his eyes.

“Thought you hated this sweater.” 

“I was just messing with you. You’re the only person I know who can wear Slytherin green and still look adorable.” 

Remus smiled, and ducked his head to hide his blush. “You’re such a flirt.”

“‘S practically my middle name.” 

“I thought your middle name was Orion?” James asked, flinging open the door and striding past them, hair damp and curling. Peter trailed behind him, looking rather exhausted. 

“Oi! Shut it, Fleamont.” 

They were halfway through breakfast when Remus decided there was definitely something wrong with Lily. They’d taken Carrots to her earlier, and she’d seemed  _ all right  _ then, if not a little vacant, but now Remus was watching Mary and Marlene sitting on either side of her and whispering. Lily looked on the verge of tears, and Remus was not the only one who noticed.

“All right, love?” James asked her. He had to peek around Mary to speak to her, as she’d plopped herself between James and Lily at breakfast that morning and wouldn’t move. 

Lily nodded, slowly.

“Are you sure?” Remus asked, cautiously. 

Lily pulled out a neatly folded letter from her pocket, and looked down at it as she chewed her lip. “It’s my dad,” she said eventually, voice quiet. “He’s…really ill. ‘Tunia says he’s not going to make it…” she sniffled, and placed the letter on the table.

Remus pulled it towards him, and unfolded it to read the careful ballpoint pen script. Sirius scooted closer so he could read over Remus's shoulder. 

“ _ Don’t bother coming back _ …” Remus read aloud, an eyebrow raised. “ _ Are _ you going to go back?” 

Lily burst into tears then, and Remus’s eyes widened in alarm. James sent him a glare from across the table. “Sorry! Sorry, Lily, I didn’t mean to upset you…”

“No, no, it’s okay,” she sniffled again, and wiped a few tears from off her cheek. “I just…don’t know what to do. I  _ know  _ Petunia doesn’t want me there, but I want to see my dad...” 

“I’m sure he wants to see you,” James said gently, reaching over Mary to place his hand over Lily’s. 

They all watched as Lily chewed her lip in an anxious silence, staring down at her and James’ hands. “Would you come with me?” she asked eventually, voice quiet. 

Suddenly feeling very much like they were intruding on a private moment, the other three Marauders pretended to look busy.

Mary cleared her throat, and stood up from the table, leaving her space open for James to occupy. “Right, well, I’m going to grab my skates. Coming, ladies?” She asked, giving Marlene, Hestia, and Alice pointed looks. They all nodded and grabbed their things. 

“We’ll come too. Need to find some skates for Sirius.” Remus said.

Sirius groaned. “Merlin, I  _ forgot _ .”

“Oho, you finally got Sirius to agree to come skating with us then?” Marlene asked, grinning as the boys (and Peter) joined them as they left the Great Hall, leaving James and Lily quietly whispering on the bench.

“Very, very reluctantly.” Sirius grumbled with a sigh. 

“So, did you talk to Lily?” Sirius asked James later that morning. They were both standing on the edge of the lake, watching their friends. Lily had pulled Remus away when they’d arrived, and he’d promised to come back for Sirius later. He could see them on the other side of the lake, a little ways behind Hestia and Marlene, hand in hand and deep in conversation.

“Yeah. We’re going to talk to McGonagall later, see if we can leave today or tomorrow.” James scuffed the toe of his skate on the snowy ground. “I’ve never met her parents.” He added quietly. 

“You see them twice a year at Kings Cross,” Sirius pointed out.

“But I’ve never really  _ met  _ them. I’ve never been to her house and stayed there. What if they don’t like me? What if I can’t do enough for Lily? I mean, her dad is  _ dying _ , Pads.” 

“They’re both going to love you.  _ Everyone _ loves you, idiot. And don’t worry about Lily. Just be there for her, like you always are. She chose you, out over everyone. I mean, she could have chosen Remus—he’s better in a crisis than the rest of us, but she didn’t.” Sirius said, shrugging. 

James glanced over at Sirius, then pulled him into a tight hug. Sirius squealed as he lost balance and almost made them fall over. “I love you,” James muttered into his hair. 

Sirius grinned and pulled back. “I love you too, Prongs.”

“Speaking of love and Remus—why did he call you a flirt this morning?” 

“You heard that? He was just… joking around. It’s just a little joke between us.” Sirius tried to shrug nonchalantly, but James only snorted, sounding unconvinced. 

“Ready?” It was Remus, skating over to them, making it look bloody  _ easy _ . He stopped in front of Sirius and James and held out his hands. Sirius looked down at them and then over at James apprehensively. 

James merely grinned, and stepped onto the ice, grabbing Lily’s hand. “Have fun, Pads.” 

“Oh, alright then.” Sirius grabbed Remus’s hands and took his first tentative steps onto the ice. 

It wasn’t as hard as Sirius had first thought, though that may have been because Remus was doing most of the work keeping him upright. They started with a few slow loops around the lake. 

“You know, ice skating seems like the kind of thing a young, pureblood heir would be quite good at.” Remus commented. His eyes flickered over to Sirius and the other boy shot him a grin. 

“That is, in fact, precisely why I’m  _ not  _ good at it.” Sirius said, swinging their hands between them. Remus snorted and rolled his eyes. “My parents tried to teach me, but I mostly just refused. Regulus was better than me at it, but then again he was better than me at most things…”

Remus squeezed his hand. “That’s not true. He was just better at playing along.” 

Sirius sighed. “Yeah. I ‘spose.” 

They skated in silence for a few minutes. Sirius stole a few glances over at Remus. He had a Gryffindor scarf wrapped tightly around his neck, and a matching red beanie on his head. Sirius could see the puffs of breath in the air, and the pink dusting on his cheeks and nose from the cold. 

Remus caught him staring, and smiled, red flush on his cheeks deepening. “Hi,” he said.

“Hi,” Sirius breathed. “I wish I could kiss you.” 

“Right now?”

“Mhm.” 

Remus looked around, then sped up, pulling Sirius behind him. They rounded a corner and Remus stopped them behind a big tree that blocked them from view of the others. 

“Merlin, Moons,” Sirius gasped, coming to a stop and clutching his chest. “You  _ scared  _ me. That was too—” Remus cut him off with a kiss, gloved hands coming to rest behind his neck. 

Sirius kissed back, draping his arms around Remus’s waist. They were fine until Sirius tried to pull himself closer to Remus. The sudden movement startled him, and Sirius heard his quiet squeak before Remus lost his balance and took them both to the icy ground, landing with a thump. 

Remus immediately started laughing, and Sirius glared at him reproachfully, gently pushing at his shoulder. “Moony! You said you wouldn’t let me fall.” He crossed his arms, almost pouting. 

“Sorry, Pads.” Remus, still grinning, leaned over to kiss him, and Sirius couldn’t help but smile into it. 

***

_ Mum, _

_ (I’m so sorry this is a few days late, I’ve been busy with exams and things.) _

_ Artemis seems glad to be back, and I did feed her a few extra sausages like you said. I’m glad you indulge her snacking habits—I always do (I wonder where she  _ learned  _ those habits from…). _

_ The moon was alright—they’re always better when my friends are around. It’s been a few days now so I’m practically back to normal. I’m sorry you’ve been sleeping bad. I’m always okay, you needn’t worry about me. _

_ I’m glad to be staying at Hogwarts with my friends this year, as it’s our last year and all, though I do already miss you. This morning my friend Lily got news that her dad is going to die soon. She and James are going to go see him tomorrow I think, but it all just made me think of you. I know you’re healthy, but I suppose it just made me miss you more. I’ll definitely come home for the Easter holidays—we can have a belated birthday celebration.  _

_ I hope you have a good Christmas, mum. I love you.  _

_ Remus _

_ (p.s. Thanks for sending the package. It’s Sirius’s Christmas present.)  _

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked this chapter! comment and kudos if you would like as per usual <3 (also ! thanks for 4000 hits! that's pretty wild.)


	20. the brightest star in the sky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy valentines day :) I started writing this chapter today bc I was annoyed at one of my book chapters I'm trying to rewrite right now. I usually write these chapters slowly over a few days but this one probably took me like three hours total (subtracting the break I took to have some soup lol). So, enjoy this irritation and tomato soup fueled chapter. (also it's valentines day, so there's lots of fluff ofc)

**chapter twenty**

**_saturday—_ **

****

“I miss James.” Peter said, standing in front of the mirror and adjusting his scarf. 

“ _ I can’t imagine he misses you. You look terrible in orange, by the way. _ ” The mirror said. Peter looked down at his orange scarf with a frown. Sirius snorted from behind him, where he was lacing up his shoes.

“This mirror has been awful to me all bloody year. I mean, it isn’t all that nice at the best of times but it’s getting ridiculous!” Peter exclaimed, giving it a dirty look before walking back over to his bed, where he picked up a black scarf and exchanged it for his orange one. “You know, I caught it telling James how  _ lovely  _ his hair looked the other day. It looked a mess!” 

“Clearly the mirror has favorites, Pete.” Sirius said with a shrug, grinning. 

“It’s a  _ mirror _ . It shouldn’t talk at all, honestly.” 

“Sirius charmed it earlier this year to compliment James but say mean things to you.” Remus said, walking out of the bathroom. He was wearing a jumper he’d stolen from Sirius earlier that morning, and his hair was still damp from his shower.

“Moony!” 

“You’re  _ kidding _ .” Peter said, glaring at Sirius from across the room. Sirius shrugged.

“I didn’t tell it  _ what  _ to say. It didn’t have to go so hard on your scarf, I thought you looked absolutely glowing in the orange.” 

“Oh, you are such a prat, Padfoot.” Peter grumbled, throwing his pillow at Sirius’s head. This, of course, created a pillow fight between the two of them, which Remus tried to dodge as he got ready for the day. (He did, however, get one good shot at Sirius’s head, just for the fun of it.)

The three boys emerged from their dorm some minutes later out of breath and grinning, feud forgotten (although Peter did choose to go with the black scarf in the end, over the orange one). They had their jackets and hats and mittens in hand, and were going to stop for a quick breakfast in the Great Hall before heading out to Hogsmeade with the rest of the school. 

Every one seemed excited for the day off—not only from school but from the war and everything else as well—and the crowd of students heading to breakfast was lively and loud with laughter and chatter. 

“I miss Lily.” Mary said glumly, once Peter, Sirius, and Remus joined her and the other seventh years at the table. 

“They’ll be back,” Remus said, pouring himself some tea. 

“James said they’d write when they got there, and keep us updated.” Sirius said. He stole Remus’s tea as soon as he set the teapot back down, earning him an eye-roll. 

“It’s terribly sad,” Marlene said, cutting up her eggs with her fork over and over again until they were practically mush. 

“Yeah.” Remus frowned, and a silence fell over their end of the table, in harsh contrast with the high spirits of everyone else in the hall. 

“They wouldn’t want us to be sad though, James and Lily.” Peter said. “They’d want us to enjoy our weekend.” 

“Very wise of you, Worm.” Sirius said. “Speaking of enjoying the weekend, are you taking Caroline out on a date today?”

Peter gave him an exasperated look. “Yes, Pads, she is my girlfriend after all. I know this is a rather foreign concept to you, but sometimes people take their girlfriends out on dates.” 

“Excuse me, I took my girlfriends out on dates all the time!” Sirius exclaimed. 

Marlene snorted. “You  _ took me on a date  _ once to The Hogs Head, which is just terribly romantic to begin with, but then you left halfway through because you had promised to meet Remus at Honeydukes.” 

“Right. Well, I’m sure there were  _ other  _ dates, at some point. I mean, I can’t particularly think of any now but…well,” Sirius cleared his throat. “But this isn’t about me.  _ Peter,  _ do tell, will you be taking the elusive Caroline to Madam Puddifoots? Or perhaps the Hogs Head, for a more romantic location, as Marls pointed out.” 

“You’re making it really difficult to like you today, did you know that?” Peter asked in a faux-nice voice. Then he dropped back down to his normal octave and said, “but no, I’m not. I, er, actually haven’t really planned it out. I’m hoping we just…naturally figure it out?” 

Mary snorted and reached across the table to pat Peter’s hand. “Good luck with that, love.” 

Remus nudged Sirius’s knee with his own under the table, and smiled when Sirius turned to look at him. 

“Yes, Moonbeam?” 

Remus huffed. “You’re not really going to call me that, are you?” 

“You love it.” 

“Debatable. Have you planned  _ our  _ date yet?” he dropped his voice to a whisper and leaned closer to Sirius, so they wouldn’t be overheard. It was intoxicating, being so close to him, and Remus leaned back before he impulsively kissed him in front of all their friends. 

“That I have, Rem. And I can promise it is neither Puddifoots or the Hogs Head.” He seemed nervous then, and whispered, “I hope you’ll like it.” 

“Of course I’ll like it, Pads. I’d like anything as long as you’re there.” 

“How disgustingly cliche of you,” Sirius grinned, bumping his shoulder into Remus’s. 

“Well, you  _ are  _ speaking to Werewolf Werewolf the werewolf.” 

They’d finished their breakfast quickly, and hardly had time to say goodbye to Peter before he hurried off to find Caroline at the Slytherin table. Sirius had whined about still not having met her yet, but Peter was too busy trying to find her in the crowd he didn't pay Sirius much attention. Mary was tagging on with Marlene and Hestia for the day, and so it wasn’t hard for Remus and Sirius to peel away from the group and head off down the snowy streets alone. 

They enjoyed the walk down to the village, laughing and talking and standing as close as they thought they could get away with, the backs of their hands brushing every so often. 

“You know, I’m starting to wonder if Caroline is even real.” Sirius said, as they entered the village and walked down the picturesque main street. 

“She is, I’ve met her.” Remus said. 

“Really? And I haven’t?” 

“Don’t worry Pads, you’ll meet her eventually,” Remus laughed and let his hand pass by Sirius’s again, lingering long enough to hook two of their fingers together. “Now, do I get to know where we’re going? Or are we going to talk about Pete’s girlfriend for the rest of the day?” 

“Well, as much as I just love Wormtail and his love life” Sirius grabbed his hand fully and pulled him across the street to stop in front of Honeydukes. “Here’s our first stop.” 

Nearly twenty minutes later, the two left Honeydukes laden with chocolates and candies, all paid for by Sirius (much to Remus’s chagrin). Sirius grabbed Remus’s hand again and began leading them back down the street. 

“I am going to pay you back.” Remus said stubbornly, clutching a hot chocolate from Honeydukes in his other hand. 

“You are not.” 

“That was a lot of money! We can split it, at least.” 

“Don’t worry about it, love. You can pay me in kisses, if you absolutely must.” Sirius grinned up at him and Remus chuckled. 

“Are you using my own methods against me,  _ love _ ?” 

“Perhaps. Is it working?” 

“You’re so ridiculous.” Remus huffed, though the words came out more lovingly than he would have liked. 

Sirius pressed closer to him and gave him a quick kiss on his jaw before stepping away again, just as quickly, with a wide smile on his face. He dropped Remus’s hand and bounded away, before turning back, still grinning. “Race?” 

“ _ Race _ ? Sirius, I don’t even know where we’re going and I’m not  _ running _ .” Remus grimaced at the thought. “Is this part of the date?” 

“Nah, just thought it would be fun.” 

“It’s definitely not fun. Sirius, no,  _ Christ _ .” Remus muttered as Sirius took off and he had no choice but to follow. 

When he finally caught up, Remus found that he and Sirius were in the small clearing that looked out over the snowy hills, and, not far away, the Shrieking Shack. They were alone, and Sirius had procured a blanket from somewhere, and was lying casually on it, surrounded by their chocolates and candies from earlier, sipping on his hot chocolate. Remus was breathing heavily, and clutching his own drink like his life depended on it. 

“I…hate…you,” Remus gasped, collapsing down next to Sirius on the blanket. He took a sip of his hot chocolate to soothe his throat, which was burning from cold, and felt his breathing slowly return to normal. “Where’d this blanket come from?” 

“I shrunk it last night and put it in my pocket.” Sirius pulled the cup out of Remus's hand gently, then replaced it with his own hand before leaning in and kissing him, warm fingers trailing gently over the skin under Remus’s scarf. “Still hate me?” 

Remus pulled him closer, slipping his hands under Sirius’s jacket to wrap around his waist. “Less. But please never make me run again.” 

“Deal.” 

They continued like that for a while, relishing in a privacy they almost never had. Eventually, Remus pressed one last lingering kiss to the corner of Sirius’s mouth and curled closer into his side, resting his head on his chest. 

“You know, Rem, I’ve been thinking about what you said this morning at breakfast. About how you’re a cliche because of the werewolf thing.”

“Mm?”

“Well, Sirius is a star, you know,”

“—The brightest star in the sky—” Remus interrupted, smiling up at him. 

Sirius smiled back. “Right. And you’re  _ Moony _ . And, well, we’re a bit like the moon and the stars aren’t we?” 

“That  _ is  _ disgustingly cliche,” Remus chuckled, but then pushed himself up so he could kiss Sirius again. “But I love it.” 

“Can you pass me a chocolate bar?” Remus asked, later. They’d been sitting in a comfortable silence for awhile, Sirius running his fingers through Remus’s hair and Remus had been absentmindedly tracing his finger over Sirius’s stomach through his shirt.

Sirius snorted and sat up, dislodging Remus from his spot on his chest. He ended up with his head on Sirius’s lap instead, as Sirius sorted through a small stack of chocolates next to him. 

“Which one?” He asked, as he sorted through them. “Oo, let’s try this one!” 

Remus made a face and rolled off of Sirius’s lap, sitting up so they face each other, their knees knocking against each other. “The Christmas one?” 

“It’s seasonally appropriate!” 

“It looks  _ scary _ .” Remus gingerly pulled the vibrantly packaged chocolate bar out of Sirius’s hands and peeled back the wrapper. He looked back up at Sirius and raised an eyebrow. “You want to eat this?” 

It seemed to only be chocolate in name, as it was bright red and neon green in color, the two swirling and creating an awful pattern that hurt to look at. “Yes? You don’t?” Sirius asked, before leaning forward and taking a bite out of the chocolate in Remus’s hand. 

“Sirius!”

“Oh.” Sirius sat back and furrowed his brows as he chewed. “Well, it’s different.” 

Remus choked, clearly having taken a bite as well. “ _ Sirius _ . It tastes like a tree.” 

“A  _ Christmas  _ tree. Seasonally appropriate.” Sirius held out a normal bar of dark chocolate. “Here.” 

“Thanks, babe. Want this monstrosity?” Remus tossed the chocolate at Sirius.

“Babe?” Sirius repeated, cheeks flushed (Remus didn’t think it was from the cold anymore). 

“Oh,” Remus blushed as well. “Sorry. I-I didn’t mean to. Is that weird?” 

“No, no. I…I um, Remus can I—” 

But whatever Sirius wanted to say, Remus did not know, as there was a rustling noise coming from behind them, and they turned to see Peter rushing towards them, huffing with a letter clutched in his hands. A girl with shoulder length black hair was following him, though she looked rather put-out (probably for having her date interrupted). 

“Guys, guys, I got a letter!” Peter said, finally reaching their spot and collapsing down on the blanket. The girl—Caroline, Remus recognized—perched herself on a nearby rock. “It’s from James.” 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed ! comment and kudos if you desire !


	21. every moon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! this chapter gets kinda heavy with parent and death stuff, so heads up for that. It is, however, essentially 1.5k words of hurt/comfort lmao so there's that. 
> 
> also, I've been planning out the rest of this fic and I think there'll be about three more chapters before I finish it up! we're almost at the end !

**chapter twenty-one**

**_saturday night—_ **

The easy, happy energy of the morning had gone, replaced with a melancholy quiet. The Gryffindor seventh years sat around the fire in silence, all of them thinking to themselves. Sirius had the letter from James clutched in his hands, and had just broken the news to them.

“When will they come back?” Marlene asked quietly. She was sitting in one of the big armchairs, Hestia in her lap, her arms wrapped around her waist and her cheek pressed up against her shoulder. Remus felt envy curl in his stomach every time he looked at them, and so had settled for staring down at his crossed arms. It felt wrong to get upset over something like that considering the circumstances, and so the envy was always followed by pangs of guilt. He and Sirius were sharing the couch—he sitting on it horizontally, legs bent so only the tips of his socked toes touched Sirius’s, who was curled up opposite him, the letter now folded and placed on the side table. Remus could see he was now absentmindedly picking at the skin around his nails.

“James didn’t say. Probably in the next few days.” Peter said, fiddling with a loose string on his sleeve. 

“I can’t believe Lily’s dad passed,” Mary said with a sigh. “He wasn’t really that old at all— _ we’re  _ not that old. We’re only seventeen; sometimes I feel like…like death is following us around…if that doesn’t sound stupid. ”

“I don’t think it’s stupid,” Hestia said quietly, fingers lightly tracing over Marlene’s. “S’pose we need to get used to it. With the war and all.” 

Remus had had enough, and with a pounding heart he stood up suddenly, swallowing hard when everyone turned to look at him in surprise. “Er, sorry. Just I—I think I’m off to bed for the night. Think I might write to Lily,” he murmured, before turning and hurrying up the stairs. 

As soon as he snapped the door of the dormitory behind him, Remus took a deep breath. The room was cool and quiet, and he felt he could practically hear the sound of his heart over the deafening silence and the gentle tick of the small clock on Peter’s bedside table. It was soothing, but as soon as he was given a moment to think—a wave of sadness hit him, and he sat down hard on his bed. 

He sat there a moment, feeling every emotion run through his body like electricity—like the waves on the shore of his mother’s favorite beach by their house. That was what did it, the flash of childhood memory—Remus ankle deep in the ocean and his mother grasping his hand, trying to coax him out deeper. Feeling tears pricking at his eyes, Remus shook his head and stood up, deciding to get ready for bed and write to Lily in the morning.

He pulled on his pajamas and brushed his teeth, avoiding his reflection in the bathroom mirror. Walking out of the bathroom, he eyed his carefully made bed, but ended up padding over to Sirius’s bed, pulling back the duvet and climbing in, taking an unsteady breath and letting his eyes slip close. 

The door opened with a quiet creak, but Remus ignored it, pulling the blankets up closer to his chin.

“ _ Chéri _ ?” It was Sirius, poking his head around the door of their dorm. “Are you alright?” 

Remus sighed, and opened his eyes. He lolled his head to the side so he could see Sirius, lit from the back and cast in shadow (he looked like something out of a painting, or maybe an angel with the way the light from the stairway lit up the stray hairs around his head). (Remus thought that was  _ dreadfully  _ cliche, and decided to keep it to himself).

“Come here?” Remus asked, breaking the silence. Sirius snapped the door shut and shrugged off his jacket, kicking off his jeans and pulling on some pajama pants on the way. He was still in his thick sweater, and pulled it off to reveal a plain white shirt. He threw the sweater behind him at random before he crawled into bed next to Remus.

Remus spared him a tiny smile, and glanced around at the clothes now littering the floor. “Are you going to pick those up?” 

“Nah. They landed mostly on James’s bed. S’just payback for all the stuff he leaves in my room at home.” Sirius settled down into the pillows and pulled Remus to him. At the mention of James, Remus sighed. “Is this about Lily? And her dad?” Sirius asked quietly after a moment. 

“Yes.” Remus paused. “No.”

Sirius was quiet and waited for Remus to continue. He felt as Remus grabbed at one of his hands, lacing their fingers. He felt as he began rubbing over the rough skin on his thumb.

“You were picking at it earlier, your thumb,” Remus practically whispered. Smoothing his own thumb over the reddened skin again and again. 

“I know.” Sirius whispered back. It had been a particularly bad habit of his as a child, but now only resurfaced now and then when he got particularly anxious. Remus brushed over another roughened patch of skin, and Sirius felt his heartbeat rise as he remembered forcibly the way he used to get in trouble for picking or biting his fingers, the way his mother used to punish him. He closed his eyes, and cleared his throat. “I think you’re avoiding my question.” 

“It is Lily…it’s, well it’s just that knowing what she’s going through right now…losing a parent, you know,” Remus spoke, his phrases a little disjointed as he tried to put his feelings into words. “It’s made it really real.” He finished, quietly, as if he were talking more to himself than Sirius.

“It’s made what feel real?” Sirius asked, brow furrowed. Remus took an unsteady breath and pulled away, turning so he and Sirius were face to face. There was a wobble to Remus’s voice when he spoke next. 

“Sirius, I think my mother is dying.” His voice was quiet, though easily heard in the heavy silence. Sirius remembered a few nights earlier, over a week now, when they’d talked in bed, lightly and full of laughter. It struck Sirius just then how much had changed in that week. It was odd sometimes, the way so much could happen in only days. 

“Has she said so?” Sirius asked. Remus shook her head, and fell back on the bed, staring up at the canopy above them. Sirius sat up, resting on his elbow so he could look down at Remus. 

“No, but I  _ know _ . In all her letters there’s just this…undercurrent of  _ something _ . She seems desperate to see me, and last time we hugged she held me like…like it was the last time. And I hear her and my dad whispering late at night…they think I can’t hear them, but y’know, werewolf hearing…” he paused then, and blinked hard, tearing his eyes away from Sirius and looking out towards the window. “I’m not sure I can do the moons without her, alone” he whispered.

Sirius reached out, dragging his fingers gently through the curls that had fallen over Remus’s forehead. His eyes flickered back over to Sirius’s. “And what gave you the impression that you’d be doing it alone?” 

Remus huffed. “You know you guys can’t be there with me during the summers.” 

“Ah, but Moonbeam,” Sirius brushed his finger just under Remus’s right eye, collecting the small tear that was threatening to spill down his cheek. “We’ll be done with school by then. You and I, and Wormy and Prongs, of course, if Prongs hasn’t left us for Lily, will have our own little apartment and we’ll spend every moon together.” 

Remus furrowed his brow, and opened his mouth like he was going to speak, but Sirius shook his head. “ _ Every _ moon. Until we’re seventy and your fur’s gone grey.” 

Remus let out a watery chuckle and Sirius brushed away another tear. “What about when we’re seventy-one?” he asked. 

Sirius rolled his eyes, and grinned. “I’ll be there when you’re seventy-one too.  _ And  _ seventy-two, seventy-three, seventy-four—” 

“Okay, okay. I get the picture.” Sirius could see a real Remus-smile underneath his watery exterior. He smiled back, gently. 

“We really love you, Remus, all of us. We’ll be there if your mother dies, we’ll be there for every moon and every morning after. You know that, right?” He met Remus’s eyes. “I’ll be there.” 

Remus, not trusting himself to say much, stared into Sirius’s eyes a moment before burying his face into the other boy’s chest, hiding his tears in Sirius’s pajama shirt. Sirius was quiet, a hand brushing through the curls at the nape of his neck.

“I love you too,” Remus whispered. “You…you and James and Peter. How did I get so lucky?” 

Remus felt Sirius shrug against him. “I think the real question is how did  _ we  _ get so lucky.” 

“Very sentimental of you,” Remus murmured, managing another small chuckle. 

“Hey, you started it!” 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello again. I hope you liked this chapter :) comment and kudos if u want! (also, thanks so much for 5,000 hits ! crazy!)


	22. you need a james hug, and i'm not going to take no for an answer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> evening, all. another chapter so soon after the last! this is practically unheard of for me lmao. I'm not sure when I'll be able to get the next one out because my computer screen is currently broken (I am typing this through several colorful lines flickering across my screen), so I'm not sure when that will all be fixed. hopefully /soon/ lol

**chapter twenty-two**

**_tuesday afternoon—_ **

_ Mum, _

_ I just got your letter, and wanted to start by saying that Lily’s dad passed a few days ago. I thought you’d like to know, since you said you were praying for him. She’s back now, and seems to be doing better. We’ve all been there for her, just like you’ve always been there for me.  _

_ This situation—Lily’s dad dying, supporting her through it—has made me really see how important it is that we are there for those that we love, and how it’s important that we’re open with each other.  _

_ You’ve always been there for me, despite our differences and when dad wasn’t there, but I don’t think we’re being open with each other right now.  _

_ I want you to know that I’m gay, and that I’m dating Sirius. We’ve been dating for just about a week, but it’s different with Sirius—he’s been my closest friend for seven years. I can’t imagine much can come between us now. I’m sure this will be a shock to you, but I want you to be the first to know. Because I love you.  _

_ Because I love you, I want to ask you to be really truly honest with me. I’ve noticed something’s been going on with you, and I want to know before it’s too late.  _

_ Are you ill? I’m sure you’ve only been hiding it to protect me, but I’d feel better if I knew for sure. I only want to be there for you—  _

“Fuck.” Remus grumbled, dropping his quill and rubbing his hand over his face. There was ink on one of his fingers, and it smudged over his cheekbone. 

“Alright, mate?” James asked, carefully. He and Remus were alone in the common room. Most everyone had gone home for the holidays, but those that remained were outside enjoying the snow. Sirius and Peter had gone down to the kitchens to get them snacks. They intended to spend their afternoon getting everything together for their Christmas party, which was only two days away. 

“Yeah,” Remus sighed, and pulled his hand away. James saw his eyes looked red and watery, and he frowned. 

“Yeah, alright, you little liar,” James scoffed. Remus raised an eyebrow at him. “Come on, get over here.” 

James scooted so he was sitting up on the couch, and opened his arm, clearly intending for Remus to get under it. 

“Thanks, James, but I don’t really need a hug right now. I’ll just finish this letter and stop being such a bloody emotional mess—” 

“No, no.” James shook his head, and fixed Remus with a glare. “You need a James Hug, and I’m not going to take no for an answer.” 

“Merlin, ever heard of consent?” Remus quipped. 

“Cuddle me, Remus.” 

“Christ,  _ alright _ .” Remus honestly thought the idea of a hug from James sounded quite nice right about then, so didn’t put up much of a fight. He joined James on the couch, letting himself get wrapped up in his big arms. 

James grinned, though Remus couldn’t see it from his position. “How are you feeling now?”

“It seems that with this one hug you’ve solved all my problems. My mother’s healthy, I’m no longer a werewolf, I’ve passed my Newts, my crops are watered…” 

“You’re loving it.” 

Remus snorted against him. “You’re confident.” 

“No one has  _ ever  _ said anything bad about a James Hug, so you’re right, I am rather confident in my abilities.” 

The portrait hole swung open, and Peter and Sirius walked through. Peter was carrying a large tray full of food, and Sirius was picking bits off of it every once and awhile. From his spot on James’s chest, he saw Sirius laugh loudly at something Peter said before he looked up and made eye contact with Remus. 

“Prongs, you’re giving Moony a  _ James Hug _ ?” Sirius crossed his arms. “I’m so jealous.” 

“Of who?” Remus mumbled, gaining a loud laugh from James and a blush to creep up Sirius’s cheeks. Remus pulled away then, giving James a little pat on the arm as a way of thanks. 

“Moony was sad, and I simply couldn’t sit here while the poor lad cried! All on his own, smudging the ink of his letter to his sweet mother…”   
“Thank you, James. I think we’ve gotten the picture now.” Remus said dryly, standing up to cross back over to the desk, where the ink was still drying on the parchment of his letter. 

“You were crying?” Sirius asked him, concerned. He perched himself on the edge of the desk, swinging his legs so there was a soft  _ thump  _ every time his heel hit the wood. 

“I was not  _ crying _ .” Three unbelieving looks were cast his way. “Okay, let me rephrase that. No tears actually  _ fell  _ from my eyes.” 

“Oh, moons…” Sirius began, but was silenced when Remus held up his hand. 

“No speaking, I need to finish this.” 

There were a few moments of silence, broken by the sound of Remus’s quill scratching on the parchment. He wrote a few final lines before signing it and slipping it into an envelope, then attaching it to Artemis’s leg. He gave her a goodbye pat on her head and she was off, through the open window and into the crisp December afternoon. 

“Did you tell her?” Sirius asked, rather vaguely. Remud knew what he meant. They’d spoken extensively the night before, and came up with a sort of plan. First they’d tell his mother about their relationship, then they’d tell their friends (though they hadn’t quite worked out a timeline for that second bit yet.)

“Yeah.” Remus turned to face Sirius, who was still lounging on the desk. 

A fond sort of look came over his face. “Rem, you’ve got…” he stuck his thumb in Remus’s nearby cup of water and reached out, rubbing at the ink on his cheek. 

“I’m not sure what kind of gay... _ thing  _ is happening here but we’ve got a party to prepare, people!” James said loudly, jumping up and clapping his hands for emphasis.

“There is no—“ Sirius began, then paused. There very much  _ was  _ some kind of gay thing happening and he thought it would bode better if he stuck to the truth. He settled for a sigh. “What's first for our party planning?”

“I’m going to need a little more enthusiasm, Padfoot.” James said, hands on his hips. (He looked startlingly like Euphemia as he glard across the room at them.)

“Like mother like son,” Sirius murmured quietly. Remis snorted. 

“No whispers! Get up! We’re starting with the decor…” 

The girls had been decorating some days before, so the common room was already decked out in garlands and had an impressive tree in one corner, but James still thought there was far more that could be done (“ _ just some garland isn’t going to cut it, Remus. This is Christmas, for Merlin’s sake…” _ ). 

He’d ordered Sirius and Remus to stay and try to figure out how to charm the ceiling like the Great Hall to make it  _ look  _ like it was snowing (he’d gotten the idea from Marlene the day the girls had decorated it, but modified it to get rid of the messy aspect); then he’d given them a stack of books and left with Peter. Their task was to sneak down to Hogsmeade and try to get some Firewhisky from Rosmerta at the Three Broomsticks (by force or by flirting, Remus and Sirius weren’t yet sure). 

“Be good, you two.” James said, just before he left.

“Of course we’ll  _ be good _ ,” Sirius rolled his eyes. “What do you think we’ll get up to?” 

James narrowed his eyes, and walked backwards across the room, eyes flickering between the two of them. “I can’t be sure…” 

“You’re so bloody dramatic, Prongs. Just go!” Remus said, crossing his arms and trying his best to look stern. 

Peter had already left the portrait hole, but stuck his head back in the room momentarily when James joined him in the hall. “Enjoy yourselves,” Peter sing-songed. Then the door closed, and they were gone. 

“Those absolute little  _ shits _ .” Sirius grumbled, sinking down in his chair. “Is this their new game plan? Just leave us alone as often as possible and hope we just…make out?”

“S’a little late for that.” Remus mumbled, cheek pressed into his hand as he flopped through a book James had left them. 

“Merlin, maybe that’s it!” Sirius sat up straight again, eyes wide. Remus turned to look at him, quiet as he waited for Sirius’s inevitable explanation. “They know. They have to fucking know.” 

“How could they know?” Remus sat back in his chair, turning a little so his and Sirius’s knees brushed against each other under the table. 

“Well, Pete had a right laugh when he saw we’d slept in the same bed that night a few days ago. And then…I dunno. They can probably like…tell or something. I suppose we look different. Do I look different to you? Glowy?”

“Absolutely  _ glowing _ . Are you pregnant?” Remus grinned, then schooled his face back into a stern frown, whispering, “am I not the father?” 

“You’re such a dick. I’m being serious! And  _ please _ , don’t make a Sirius joke.” He shuddered in mock horror, as if he didn’t make jokes about his name all the time.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, babe. But really, would it really bother you if they knew?” Sirius had his hands clasped tightly together, and Remus reached out to grab one of them, pulling it back into his own lap and running his fingers over the smooth skin on the back of his hand, and the rough calluses on his fingers. 

“I guess not. I just…want it to be on our own terms, you know?” 

“It will be, Pads, don’t worry.” 

“Yeah.” There was a silence, then Sirius was pulling on Remus’s hand, pulling him closer. “They  _ did  _ leave us alone…” 

“Mm, they did…” then they were kissing. Sirius' hands fell from Remus’ and wound their way around his waist, slipping under his shirt and laying flat against his back. Remus had his hands in Sirius’ hair, and— 

“Good lord, what  _ have  _ we got here?” 

Remus and Sirius sprung apart, Sirius needing to grab onto the table as he almost toppled backwards off his chair. It was Marlene, arms crossed and shit-eating grin spread across her face, Hestia stood next to her, grinning just as wide. 

“Fucking hell,” Remus muttered, letting his forehead fall foreward and hit the table. 

“This is new,” Hestia said casually. 

“‘Spose. Though it was newer about a week ago,” Sirius said, sighing. “Don’t tell anyone. Please?” 

“Of course we won’t,” Marlene said, seriously. She and Hestia crossed the room and took the seats across from Sirius and Remus. Remus picked up his head and rested it on his hand. His heart was pounding and he felt ill. “Who else knows?” 

“You two. My mum in a few days,” Remus said. 

“Not James and Peter?” Hestia asked, brows furrowed. “But I thought they had that whole fake dating thing going? I mean, surely they knew you two liked each other.” 

“I guess they had some idea, yeah,” Sirius shrugged. “We just…wanted a moment to ourselves, you know?” 

Marlene hummed, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms. She was wearing a simple, soft-looking leather jacket, and had two long blonde braids trailing down over her shoulders (Remus supposed Hestia had braided her hair. Sometimes he wondered what it would be like to braid  _ Sirius’s  _ hair. He’d probably let him). 

Sirius raised an eyebrow. “Why are you looking at us like that?”

“I’m not looking at you like anything!”  
“Yes you are! Like we’re some kind of bloody museum exhibit. Never seen a gay person before, Marls?” Sirius teased. Marlene huffed, and rolled her eyes.

“Prick.” 

“We’re just glad you worked it out. We’re happy for you,” Hestia said, smiling across at them. “Or at least  _ I  _ am. Dunno about Marls, here.”

Marlene gasped dramatically, then gently hit Hestia’s shoulder. The other girl laughed, and hit her back. “Of course I’m happy for you. Really really.” 

“Thanks guys,” Remus said. He felt a lot more at ease. He supposed he had felt more shocked at being found out than anything; he knew Marlene and Hestia wouldn’t be anything but supportive. 

“Now that that’s all out of the way, we can get back to decorating. Marls, do you remember that spell that makes it snow?” Sirius asked. 

Marlene visibly brightened. “Of course I do, dear Sirius.” 

Twenty minutes later, the four seventh years found themselves standing in snow up to their ankles, desperately trying to pick up anything that could be damaged by water off the floor. 

“I told you we should have modified the spell, Sirius!” Remus grumbled, brushing snow off of a 17th century book about vampires in Australia he’d saved from a low bookshelf. 

“I didn’t know it would actually make it fucking snow!”

“What’s the countercurse?” Hestia asked, trying to vanish a large mound near the portrait hole, to no avail.

“I don’t know, I don’t know,” Marlene mumbled, flipping madly through some of the books James left. She was sitting cross-legged on the table to avoid the worst of the snow on the floor. 

“Hurry up!” Sirius growled, grabbing a handful and throwing it out the window. “If Minnie finds this she’s going to actually murder us. They’ll hang our heads above the fireplace in the common room like House Elves. It’ll be a warning—if you and three other gay seventeen-year-old wizards decide fill the entire fucking room with snow, this could be you!” 

“ _ Fuck _ , I forgot about McGonagall!” Marlene groaned. “I can’t get a detention!” 

“You better start searching faster then,” Sirius said darkly, tossing another meagre handful of snow out the window. 

“Well, you could help me, you know,” Marlene snapped. She grabbed a book at random and tossed it at Sirius. He managed to just barely catch it. 

Clamoring over a snowbank, Sirius made it to Marlene’s table and climbed on top, glowering across at her. “I bet I’ll find it first.” 

Marlene huffed. “Yeah, sure.” 

“ _ Merlin _ ,” Remus groaned, closing his eyes and rubbing his hands over his face. 

“Why did we leave them in charge again?” Hestia asked from beside him. 

“No bloody idea.” 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi :) hope you all enjoyed the chapter ! comment and kudos if you liked it !


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